The aim of this contribution is to depict and analyze the dynamics of situated creativity by presenting an anatomy of the creative city and an understanding of the emergence and formation of creative processes in these particular local ecologies of knowledge. We propose to study the anatomy of the creative city by defining three different layers—the upperground, the middleground and the underground—as the basic components of the creative processes in local innovative milieus. Each one of these layers intervenes with specific characteristics in the creative process, and enables new knowledge to transit from an informal micro-level to a formal macro-level. In order to illustrate this point of view, the creative city of Montréal is analyzed through two main case studies: Ubisoft and the Cirque du Soleil.

This article aims to clarify how epistemic communities dynamically shape the process of knowledge creation in a localized context and how the evolving interaction between different members of these communities enables knowledge to transit from its locus of emergence to the global market. It is argued that these dynamics rest on a series of clashes between different frames of reference, which enables bits of knowledge to be progressively revealed, enhanced, nurtured, interpreted and enacted collectively.

The concept of ecosystem plays a central role in the recent debates on the unfolding of a new regime of innovation. In this paper, we contribute to these debates by clarifying the distinction between the emerging concept of ‘ecosystem of innovation’ from the established concept of ‘business ecosystems.’ Re-interpreting the case of the historical developments of the video game cluster of Montreal, we argue that the dynamics of knowledge creation and innovation in ‘ecosystems of innovation’ imply to adopt a wider scope and address knowledge flows between a diverse set of business ecosystems and between a business ecosystem and less formalised spaces dedicated to knowledge creation and exploration. We conclude suggesting the complementarity of ‘ecosystems of innovation’ with ‘business ecosystems’ and their generativity fuelled by creative tensions between formal and informal loci of knowledge creation, illustrated by diverse talent trajectories.

We explore the growth, scope and impact of the academic literature that has arisen around the concept of innovation ecosystems. We highlight some of the most important definition, the place of innovation policies and the future accomplishments that could be made.

This contribution investigates the dynamics of knowledge creation at the local level, building, in particular, on the interactions between formal and informal entities. Two theoretical constructions are brought together in order to do so: the middleground concept and the notion of commons. By associating these two concepts, the goal is to introduce a revised perspective on local dynamics of knowledge, which details how informal and formal entities interact with one another in order to drive local ideation processes and how these processes are structured in order to generate innovative outputs. The case of FabLabs is drawn upon in order to illustrate how the middleground and commons concepts can be mobilized to describe and better understand these local dynamics of knowledge creation.