The role of civic capital in urban and regional growth

David A. Wolfe

Chapter 4 in The Governance of Innovation Spaces, 2026, pp 75-99 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter develops the book's key conceptual contribution – the concept of civic capital – situating it within the broader literature on governance theory and social capital. Civic capital is defined as a set of relations emerging from interpersonal networks tied to a specific region or locality, contributing to a common sense of community based on shared identity, goals, and expectations. The chapter distinguishes civic capital from Putnam's concept of social capital on several grounds: it is tied to specific geographic scales (primarily the urban and regional); it allows for individual agency through the engagement of civic entrepreneurs; and it can be deliberately created through concerted community action, rather than being solely determined by deep historical path dependencies. It reviews theories of associative, networked, and collaborative governance, using the concept of “new localism” as a framework for understanding how civic actors forge collaborative coalitions to support economic development. It draws on a rich set of case studies – including Silicon Valley's Joint Venture network, San Diego's civic-driven transformation from a naval base and tourist destination into a leading innovation cluster, comparative studies of Canadian ICT clusters in Waterloo, Ottawa, and Toronto, and cross-national comparisons of inter-municipal cooperation in German and Canadian city-regions – to demonstrate how civic capital operates in practice. Civic entrepreneurs – individuals who build collaborative institutions – are critical in fostering new developmental trajectories for cities and regions. In communities with higher degrees of civic capital, interlocked networks of collaborative institutions produce more effective governance mechanisms and stronger economic performance.

Keywords: Civic Capital; Civic Entrepreneurs; Collaborative Governance; Social Capital; Regional Development Coalitions; Institutional Agency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035320783
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