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Ecologies of Innovation

Symbolic Aspects of Cross-Organizational Linkages in the Design Sector in an Australian Inner-City Area

Marcus Foth

Jennifer Summerville

Peter L. Higgs

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Research on creative-industries clusters emphasizes both community and network dynamics in cross-organizational linkages and their role in fostering group and individual creativity and innovation. This article turns to an economic sociology framework, examining what is at stake in these collaborations and their embeddedness in broader social relationships. The authors report on a qualitative study of the linking and networking practices and rationales of the design sector collocated in an inner-city area in Brisbane, Australia. The study suggests that not only was the locale important in both community and network-level relationships but also that these should be understood in relation to symbolic representation in the field of design. The article argues that the innovative potential of interorganizational linkages should be understood in terms of layers of symbolic identifications at the level of the field of design, the symbolic community associated with the locale, and the "awareness space" of networks.

Key Words: creative industries • clusters • symbolic relationships • embeddedness

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