Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Post-Growth Cities: The Role of Business Incubator and Coworking Space

Abstract

Recent changes in demographic shifts, technological advancement, global political turbulence, and the climate emergency have prompted cities to search for alternative approaches to urban development. As cities worldwide enter the post-growth era, the pro-growth development strategies traditionally promoted by policymakers would need to shift toward more socially, economically, and ecologically just models of development. As material places where various actors or interest groups interact in physical proximity, cities are spaces of encounter where multiple functions and needs compete for limited resources but also where collaboration occurs among actors. On the local and regional level, entrepreneurial ecosystem has swiftly become one of the latest trending concepts in urban development studies to advocate entrepreneurship for enhancing cities’ attractiveness. This approach offers scholars and policymakers a novel and distinctive pathway toward understanding and fostering an entrepreneurial development state. Despite numerous entrepreneurial ecosystem studies on a regional or national scale, research on the city-level adoption of this concept and the heterogeneity inherent in local ecosystems is insufficient.

Accordingly, in Chapter 2, this dissertation begins by examining the theoretical development of post-growth cities. Next, I comb the theoretical background of the term “entrepreneurial ecosystem”, including the development of its concept, its composition framework, participants and their respective roles, key performance indicators, and relevant policies on the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems, especially for business incubators and coworking spaces. I have established three main issues that this thesis focuses on: the characteristics of urban entrepreneurial activities, the impact of entrepreneurial space on entrepreneurial behavior and entrepreneurs, and the development model of entrepreneurial ecosystem and entrepreneurial space.

In response to these focuses, Chapter 3 introduces the data analysis, data sources, and methods used in this thesis. To address the first research question What factors affect entrepreneurial activities in cities and does the demand for entrepreneurs align with the supply and demand between the physical conditions for entrepreneurship in cities, government policies, and measures? Chapter 4 further refines the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework by drawing on the National Expert Survey’s discussion of Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions. Based on the 2020 survey data, it is found that factors such as funding, government programs, professional entrepreneurship training, internal market burdens, and the adjustments made by both the government and entrepreneurs in response to crises have a significant positive impact on the overall entrepreneurial landscape. Conversely, professional business infrastructure and dynamic changes in the internal market have a notable negative effect, potentially hindering entrepreneurial growth and success. On the individual level, entrepreneurs participating in entrepreneurial activities emphasize that entrepreneurial capital support, government policies, education, cultural and social norms, and entrepreneurial ability significantly influence the success or failure of their ventures, and they express their specific needs in these areas.

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, I focus on business incubators and coworking spaces, respectively. Chapter 5 examines how city-scale entrepreneurial spaces can catalyze the functioning of regional entrepreneurial systems and their own development models from an external perspective. In this chapter, I have chosen incubators and accelerators in Hong Kong and Shenzhen as comparative case studies. Findings indicate a rising demand for incubation programs in both cities. Entrepreneurs are also clearer about their demand for the services provided by incubators. The types of founders and operators of incubators are related to the macro-characteristics of local economic activities and government intervention. Incubators show their selection criteria for incubated enterprises due to their specialty. More detailed division of industries and stages of entrepreneurship development is the trend of incubators. Incubators act more as triggers to stimulate entrepreneurs to implement entrepreneurial actions in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and linkage among various participants in the system.

Chapter 6 focuses on the internal dynamics of startup spaces looking to orchestrate the startup support process. Specifically, through a rich case study of coworking spaces and their users, this chapter demonstrates that coworking spaces have emerged as crucial urban infrastructure to echo the global workforce transformation with increased self-employment and remote working. These spaces provide not only physical work environments but also social infrastructure, facilitating information exchange and collaboration. Through investigating coworking sites in Shanghai and Shenzhen, I reveal that these spaces often emerge in existing business centers without significant rent advantages. While coworkers appreciate the flexibility and convenience of shared facilities, they remain skeptical of the touted coworking community benefits. This chapter underscores the increasingly well-defined roles and interrelationships of government and stakeholders in fostering urban innovation and entrepreneurship.

The main contributions of this dissertation are as follows:
Compared to previous studies, this thesis integrates the research on post-growth theory on economic development with the entrepreneurship theory, addressing the gap in research regarding the practical application of these theories in specific urban spaces. Furthermore, while the theory of spatial agglomeration and its role in knowledge spillover and new cooperation has been widely accepted in prior studies, this thesis challenges that notion by focusing on two key entrepreneurial spaces—business incubators and coworking spaces—as case examples. These examples supplement the existing theory by illustrating that while spatial agglomeration offers benefits to entrepreneurship, the role of the space itself may not be as significant as previously assumed. Additionally, by enhancing the understanding of the factors and challenges affecting entrepreneurship in emerging economies, this study contributes to filling a gap in entrepreneurial ecosystem research. The findings and conclusions are likely to impact the operators and managers of entrepreneurial spaces, as well as urban policymakers and decision-makers, guiding the future development of innovation policies and the operational strategies of entrepreneurial environments.

Date of Award	28 Apr 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Xin LI (Supervisor) & Jun WANG (Co-supervisor)