Innovative activities take place primarily at the city level, where innovation support structures and services are located, and where the majority of economic activity takes place. Cities provide an ideal environment for the innovators, entrepreneurs and knowledge intensive activities to evolve and interact in ways that enable innovation. However, there has been very little focused research devoted to elucidating the reasons and drivers of innovation and innovative capacity within complex urban environments in emerging economies. Against this backdrop, this project seeks to examine the relationship between innovation systems and megacities in the six emerging economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the mechanisms that explain observed differences in their innovation capacities. It will also propose policy options for forging linkages between innovation policies and urban development policies in these megacities in order to enhance their innovative capacities and competitiveness and productivity advantages while simultaneously addressing the undesirable consequences of rapid urbanization.
