(PCC) Program on Chinese Cities – Thoughts on Overseas Travels Series
Authors: Zhihao Yao,
Tongji University School of Architecture and Urban Planning Ph.D. student, joint Ph.D. student at the Urban and Regional Planning Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, China Urban Research Center. yaozhihao_tj@hotmail.com
Upon arriving at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, the first things to greet you are two rows of warm and straightforward welcome signs—Welcome to North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park (Image 1). North Carolina is home to some of the densest concentrations of scientific research institutions in the U.S., with Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), North Carolina State University (NC State), and the Research Triangle Park (RTP) forming the core of North Carolina’s technological strength. RTP and its surrounding counties also boast one of the highest densities of PhDs in the nation. Located at the triangular center formed by Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and NC State, RTP is the oldest, largest (approximately 7,000 acres or 28.33 square kilometers), and most attractive park for domestic and international innovation and R&D organizations in the U.S. It is also a model of how American university innovation systems can integrate with industry to promote economic development.
In the 1950s, the U.S. economy began transitioning from manufacturing to high-tech industries. At that time, North Carolina’s economy still heavily relied on low-value-added agricultural products, tobacco, furniture manufacturing, and the textile industry, ranking low nationally. In 1954, North Carolina established a Research Commission that identified the untapped advantages of the state’s well-known universities and their continuous flow of graduates, which could improve North Carolina’s lagging economic and industrial situation. In 1956, with the support of local governments, nearby universities, and local business groups, the Research Triangle Park Committee was formed, consisting of government, universities, and businesses. Over the next three years, the committee raised $1.425 million from over 850 donors statewide, leading to the establishment of RTP in 1959, managed by the non-profit Research Triangle Foundation.
In 1960, RTP attracted its first company, Chemstrand, which specialized in developing artificial turf. The park’s development was slow in its first six years, but confidence surged when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invested $70 million to establish the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in RTP. A few months later, IBM announced it would build a 56,000 square meter corporate R&D institution on 160 hectares within RTP. Subsequently, RTP entered a period of rapid growth, with high-tech companies like Bayer, BASF, Cisco, Lenovo, GlaxoSmithKline, SAS, and Nortel establishing R&D centers there (Image 3).
RTP was initially established with simple goals—to create jobs, enhance North Carolina’s economic development, support and serve the technology transfer of nearby universities, and improve the quality of life for residents in North Carolina. After more than 50 years of operation, RTP now hosts 14 industry clusters, including agriculture, building equipment, instrumentation manufacturing and services, commercial services, communications equipment, construction materials, large-scale contracting, heavy machinery, commodity distribution services, food processing, power generation, power transmission, pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, and the tobacco industry. Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals are the largest sectors, followed by information technology and software, along with instrumentation and advanced materials enterprises, clean and green technology companies, and professional services and management consultancy firms (Image 4). These technology-based enterprises, together with related government agencies, foundations, research institutes, and technology associations in the park, form a complete industrial ecosystem. To date, RTP has attracted about 200 research enterprises, employing nearly 50,000 people. The technological strength formed by RTP and the surrounding universities has propelled North Carolina’s economic prowess, ranking the state’s economy ninth in the nation by 2015.
RTP is a planned development guided by zoning. From its inception, RTP had spatial plans that designated conservation and development zones. The Research Triangle Foundation owns all the land and infrastructure in the park, strategically leasing or selling land to technology enterprises, and is responsible for taxing companies within the park (these companies do not pay state taxes). The income from land leases, sales, and taxes is used to enhance the park’s facilities and environment. RTP has established specialized technology incubation zones to serve technology startups. The Lab at RTP and The Frontier at RTP are among the five technology incubators that provide affordable office space, shared spaces, and affordable residential areas to startups (Image 5).
Attractive investment and financing policies are key factors in attracting companies to the park. The North Carolina government provides substantial funding to build and develop the North Carolina Microelectronics Center and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center within RTP, attracting high-tech enterprises in these two fields. To aid the development of nascent technology SMEs, the Small Business Administration under the government specifically provides loan guarantees and other financial services to small businesses, offering low-interest loans ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 to companies in the park.
Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University, along with North Carolina Central University, Meredith College, and other regional institutions, continuously supply different levels of talent to RTP. To attract and retain scientific talent, RTP management, with support from the state and local governments (Durham County and Wake County), has established numerous living, education, and entertainment facilities in the park. Besides offering property tax incentives, RTP does not provide many other policy benefits. However, companies choose to locate there due to the local technological and intellectual resources. RTP has risen to be one of the top tech parks in the U.S., on par with Silicon Valley and the Boston Route 128 tech corridor, in just half a century. This success is due to the close cooperation and interaction between universities, government, and businesses, the relatively low costs of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the attractive natural environment and climate of North Carolina, which draw talent.