**1. Introduction**

Policy makers, planners, stakeholders at all latitudes constantly face the issue of developing and implementing better policies to support local economic development and offer people better

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living environments and well-being. How it is made, varies a lot. Nowadays, the European Commission is undertaking the huge effort of launching something that explicitly implies risktaking and therefore particularly needs and evidence-base for actions. The research role is to reflect on this challenge from a theoretical perspective that might possibly suggest paths and solutions.

This chapter stems from a broader research project financed by the European Commission and aimed at approaching the issue of strategy building, developing and implementation from the perspective of architects and planners, temporarily contaminating themselves with economic matters to try to bridge the gap between shape of the built environment and economic growth. The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) will be discussed through a spatial-oriented perspective, arguing that if *place* matters, then also *space* matters, with all the implications within a concept that incorporates environmental behavioural science, ecosystem and social values, cultural assets and identity. All these elements are absolutely essential in a *sustainability* perspective. Therefore, the overall discussion has in the background the *fil rouge* of demonstrating how sustainable development (environmental, social and economic) can be systematically embed‐ ded in S3, in particular, in the urban built environment.

This chapter briefly explains what Smart Specialisation Strategy is and then discusses it in a critical perspective, by clarifying explicit and less evident theoretical legacy of this rationale, with the aim to support the construction of a robust logical framework suitable to produce further novel approaches. Because of the dynamic nature of the topic, even the theoretical section, rather than relying on a review of the literature, is nurtured by up to date interviews. The chapter includes a discussion of the research hypothesis through empirical data gathered in a US case study, Kendall Square. The major expected impact of this research is the oppor‐ tunity to support current implementation of S3 policies in Europe, both in competitive and in lagging behind regions. To reinforce the transferability of the provisional findings, the field work in the States has been preceded by some exploratory investigation in Europe, aimed at observing the current gaps to be filled on the basis of the gap analysis of extant S3. The current state of S3 in the Greater Manchester Area (Northern England) and in the Calabria Region (Southern Italy) has been analysed, both on desk and through a set of informal unstructured discovery interviews with key stakeholders, in order to find out weaknesses and potentials. This preliminary analysis showed that both in lagging behind regions and in competitive regions gaps in the current S3 still exist, and that a spatial-led approach could be supportive in filling them. Therefore, although at a preliminary stage, the conclusions in this chapter may be of interest for European planners, policy makers and stakeholders looking for effective implementation of S3 in a spatially- oriented perspective.
