Imaginaries, directionalities, Akteurshandeln und Pfadkreation. You have full access to this open access article.
This study focuses on how imaginaries and directionalities, i. Applying concepts of evolutionary economic geography EEG and sociology, this paper aims to contribute to the literature on the impact of historical dependences on urban structural change processes. The qualitative case study is based on a document-based analysis and seven guideline-based interviews with local experts from the textile and clothing industry. It concludes that imaginaries and directionalities can take effect via four mechanisms: communication and cooperation, motivation, training and employment, and research and innovation.
Im Mittelpunkt dieser Studie steht die Frage, wie imaginaries und directionalities, d. In the context of urban structural change processes, e. In its evolutionary turn since Boschma and Frenken ; Martin and Sunley , economic geography has also taken up this strain of research, especially in the research area of evolutionary economic geography EEG.
To explore the relationship between structure and agency in new path creation, the existing body of research often relates to cities or regions affected by structural change. The extent of the socio-economic upheaval to be found there is particularly suited for investigating this connection Grillitsch and Sotarauta Despite recognition of the significance of agency, one criticism concerns its insufficient consideration in EEG Dawley Research related to this criticism has been conducted over the last decade Steen ; Grillitsch and Sotarauta Footnote 1 For instance, Hassink et al.
Following these reflections, a basic assumption of this contribution is that the aforementioned non-tangible factors can both promote and inhibit their creation. According to his conceptualization, shared expectations, visions and conventions can be bundled under the umbrella terms of local imaginaries and local directionalities.
