Cultivating innovation ecosystems around universities: Pathways and mechanisms of innovation-oriented urban regeneration in and around university campuses

The frontier of urban regeneration in some Chinese cities has shifted to university campuses and their surrounding areas, thereby co-producing innovation ecosystems that integrates ''innovation, production, and urbanisation''. This study draws on the Triple Helix Theory and develops an analytical framework to explain the formation and evolution of innovation ecosystems in China. Using this framework, it compares the trajectories and outcomes of two university-based innovation ecosystems: Nanjing University's Silicon Valley and the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Innovation Bay Area. The study has three main findings. Firstly, in both cases, universities and local governments collaborated to adapt university campuses and regenerate surrounding areas to co-create innovation ecosystems. This suggests that urban regeneration and innovation-driven development have become new frontiers of town-gown interactions. Secondly, the development of both university-based innovation ecosystems was led and implemented by local governments and universities rather than by innovation businesses. This state-led feature, partly due to their early-stage status, diverges from Western theories on innovation, which place businesses at the core of innovation ecosystem formations. Thirdly, the innovation ecosystems developed in three stages: upgrading material spaces, creating an enabling environment, and densifying collaborative networks. The success of each stage depended on alignment between universities and local governments regarding goals, implementation, and sustaining mechanisms. The findings offer national and local governments insights into implementing innovation-driven development strategies, fostering new quality productive forces, and promoting sustainable urban regeneration.