Knowledge Societies: Spaces and Places

Over the past seventy years, the world has been transitioning from an advanced industrial society and economy to a knowledge society and economy. The term "knowledge society" has been used freely with little concrete definition or characterization. A society is a living thing – it is complex, constantly changing, and multifaceted. Invisible for many years, the pieces and effects of the transition are increasingly evident. Today, people sense that a change is afoot, but they do not have a clear understanding of the nature of the change or how it will affect them. They are challenged to see how they can position themselves to thrive in the new society. A fundamental myth about a knowledge society is that it is focused on people who work in high-profile roles, whose work is information and data-intensive. In fact, a knowledge society is one that values and leverages knowledge as capital and recognizes the knowledge capital of every member of that society. The book explains how spaces and places affect how knowledge capital is created, leveraged, shared, adapted and regenerated in everyday living, working and socializing. The authors draw on the rich thinking and literature on spaces and places to illustrate these ideas in everyday life. The book fills a long-standing gap in the field of knowledge sciences and knowledge economics. It provides an anchor point for understanding the importance of the other aspects and subfields of knowledge management.