Temporary Knowledge Ecologies ― The Rise of Trade Fairs in the Asia-pacific Region

This volume consists of 15 essays contributed by urban planning, geography, economics, tourism, and other scholars from Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America, who analyze the rise, development, and implications of trade fair activity in the Asia-Pacific region. They provide an overview of these developments and the factors affecting them, illustrate how the evolution of these activities differs between countries and sub-regions and how political and economic changes impact them, and offer a conceptualization of the rise of Asia-Pacific trade fairs and their implications. They discuss how experiences and concepts of trade fairs can be transferred from Europe to the region, including how firms access new knowledge and competencies when they extend beyond the local or national scale, how different types of international trade fairs are needed to support economic development, how the internationalization activities of trade fair organizations are linked to this knowledge-based perspective, and the connection between trade fairs and the development of regional industries. They describe trade fairs in China, including the attractiveness of destinations, spatial distribution, and the Shanghai International Automobile Show; developments in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea, including the Suwa Area Industrial Messe, fashion events, and the Taipei International Machine Tool Show; and policy implications. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Edited by Harald Bathelt, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Governance, Departments of Political Science and Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada and Gang Zeng, Professor of Economic Geography, East China Normal University, PR China