THE RISE OF INNOVATION DISTRICTS

CAMBRIDGE: KENDALL SQUAREAnchor Plus ModelRed Line to Harvard UniversityWHITEHEAD INSTITUTEFOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHGENOMICSCOLLABORATIVENOVARTIS INSTITUTESFOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHACCELERONLAB | CENTRALBROAD INSTITUTEKOCH CENTER FORINTEGRATIVECANCERRESEARCHMASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGYAKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INCYAHOO! CAMBRIDGE INNOVATION CENTERFacebook | Apple | Highland Capital | Charles RiverVenturesGOOGLE CAMBRIDGEMIT MEDIA LABAMAZONMICROSOFTCHARLES RIVERRed Line to BostonPFIZER RESEARCHTECHNOLOGY CENTER1/4 mileAnchored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), and connected by transit to Harvard, MassGeneral and other research and medical institutions,Cambridge’s Kendall Square is today’s iconic innovationdistrict.Since its founding in 1861, MIT has emphasized university/industrypartnerships and the commercializationof ideas. Starting in the 1950s, the university hasactively deployed university-owned land to supportthis goal. In the last two decades, this strategy hashelped catalyze growth of a nationally significant lifesciences/pharmaceutical cluster. It has also spurredthe development of hundreds of small firms and attractedseveral major technology companies.The Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), founded in1999 and housed in an MIT-owned building, is a goodexample of the interplay between the university andprivate sector. An independent organization, CIC hashelped develop the modern concept of co-workingwhile encouraging entrepreneurs and start-ups in itshigh quality environment. Firms at CIC have attractedbillions of dollars of seed funding and later-stageinvestment.Making Kendall Square a dynamic residential districtwith associated amenities is now a focus in Cambridge.Since 2005 nearly 1,000 new housing unitshave been built in the area, as well as many newrestaurants and retail outlets.15