Knocking on the door: policy, agency and path creation in the post-industrial city

At the time of the Millennium, Nottingham, a former manufacturing city in the English Midlands, faced serious challenges as a consequence of de-industrialisation. This was the context from which a new development path based on life sciences emerged. This paper explores the role of policy interventions and the agency of local actors in this path creation process. Kingdon's [1995.Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy. 2nd ed. New York: Longman] multiple streams framework (MSF) is used as an analytical framework through which to assess the interaction and local implementation of three related strands of national policy: regional policy, industrial policy (with an emphasis on clusters) and innovation policy and their role in the emergence of a life science cluster in the city. The case is explored with reference to the experience of other European cities that have faced similar structural challenges and sought to respond with development strategies based on life sciences.