Megalopolitan glocalization: the evolving relational economic geography of intercity knowledge linkages within and beyond China’s Yangtze River Delta region, 2004-2014

Abstract

We develop the relational economic geographical potential of the incubator and hinge functions of megalopolis incorporating ideas from the literature on regional innovation systems and New Argonaut connections respectively. Empirically, we investigate how China’s Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has incubated but also articulated knowledge interactions at different geographical scales. Drawing upon co-patent data from the World Intellectual Property Organization database, we show that the YRD’s knowledge hinge role has strengthened over time, notably as a result of the role played by economic entities in Shanghai–the YRD’s gateway city. To unpack the YRD’s knowledge hinge role, we use information a..