Since the explosion of multimedia, the creation and promotion of multimedia clusters has become a target for regional development strategies across the globe. This work offers the first inter-regional comparison of the multimedia industry. Analysing thirteen American, European and Asian regions, leading academics examine factors which drive the emergence of multimedia clusters and processes by which they are formed. Each case is considered in the context of the globalising industry and issues discussed include: * spatial distribution * human resource supply and development * networks, globalisation and strategies of innovation * institutional support structures * new media policies and the role of the state * regional embeddedness (organic or artificial) * industrial restructuring * uneven urban and regional development * governance and sociotechnical constituencies * regional companies in national projects The regional comparative approach taken by the authors will ensure that Multimedia and Regional Economic Restructuring holds a place of particular importance in the literature of this field.
This ground-breaking work will be of value to researchers in business, technology, economics and industrial sociology. Hans-Joachim Braczyk, Gerhard Fuchs, Han-Georg Wolf, all at Centre for Technology Assessment, Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany; Ted Egan, ICF Kaiser International Inc.