Intellectual Capital Thresholds and the Maturity of Knowledge Cities

A knowledge economy is dependent upon knowledge markets and knowledge transactions which involve both the production and the consumption of intellectual capital. A knowledge economy continually increases the production and consumption of knowledge and intellectual capital. In a healthy knowledge economy, producers and consumers continuously invest in intellectual capital. Knowledge transactions are the heart of a knowledge economy and can only be monitored and tracked at a neighborhood or city level. This paper describes a new Knowledge Index for Cities that includes six facets that incentivize knowledge transactions, including: business environment, societal regine, civic engagement, environment, human ecology and the cultural context. The research describes how the Knowledge Index facilitates and monitors citizen engagement. The research describes how the Index can be applied to a city to assess its maturity as a knowledge city. Cities in Ohio are used as examples for the Knowledge Index.