Expanding Opportunities: Cluster Strategies That Reach More People and More Places 1

Abstract

This article addresses the impacts of cluster-based economic development strategies on (a) low- and middle-income people, (b) economically distressed urban and rural places, and (c) small enterprises. It draws on the collective experiences and ideas of a small group of experts and practitioners from various parts of the US and Europe to pinpoint some of the reasons why certain people, places, and firms are left out or fall behind in regional efforts to develop economies based on clusters, identify the barriers to more widely dispersed benefits, and suggest some opportunities for surmounting those barriers. It goes on to recommend new approaches and initiatives that extend opportunities to marginalized populations, less favoured regions, and very small firms and thereby produce more just clusters.