The Effective Factors on the Formation of Innovation Clusters: The Case of Sharif Innovation District

Today, the importance of shaping innovation area as a new model in the geography of innovation countries is emphasized. Areas are referred to as an innovation hubs and innovation districts. This research focusing on identifying innovation areas and describes the concept of “innovation clusters”. A new phenomenon which better describes the mechanism of innovation areas. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the formation of innovation clusters in Iran. The present study utilized a qualitative method with a grounded theory approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 experts familiar with innovative ecosystems, some of whom were directly involved in the formation of innovation area in the country. The results of this paper show that the shaping factors are divided into two categories: hard factors and soft factors. These factors could be classified under causal, intervention and contextual conditions and its results lead to the formation of a dynamic ecosystem of diverse actors focused on different technologies, and the most important strategic factor between them is innovative communication and partnerships. Other important results of this paper include the role of the facilitator in the formation and development of innovation clusters, which is responsible for managing the innovative ecosystem in the cluster.