On the socio-spatial dynamics of personal knowledge networks: formation, maintenance and knowledge interactions

Whilst personal knowledge networks between organisations have been argued to be important for regional economic development, their functioning and, within this context, the exact role of spatial proximity has been empirically underexplored. This paper addresses these issues by, first, examining the dynamic mechanisms of the formation, maintenance and knowledge interaction of important knowledge relationships of R&D workers in the Cambridge Information Technology (IT) Cluster. This demonstrates that personal relations tended to transform from an initially professional context into privately governed relationships. Furthermore, the paper argues that a sophisticated understanding of the role of spatial proximity requires an investigation of the spatiality of several stages of the network mechanisms. The results show that permanent spatial proximity and face-to-face interaction are more important for the formation of relationships than for the maintenance stage and, in particular, for work-related knowledge interactions. Finally, it is argued that, in contrast to the emphasis of the literature on communities of practice and epistemic communities, the knowledge relationships does not tend to be anchored in collective groups. Instead, the paper highlights the usefulness of the concept of individualised networks