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This paper explores the experience of the University of Aveiro in attempting to promote a favourable environment for innovation in the Portuguese industrial region in which it is located. The authors first discuss the barriers faced by peripheral regions in their attempts to establish the continuous interactive process that feeds innovation. They then highlight the role played in such regions by higher education institutions (HEIs) as the main sources of knowledge, and as crucial agents in fostering the social learning processes needed to sustain regional competitiveness. Against this background, the organizational challenges and requirements associated with the role of HEIs in peripheral regions are explored. Finally, the authors emphasize the need for specifically designed intermediate structures linking academia and society and, using the case of Aveiro, examine the process of institutional innovation and learning.

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Housing submarkets have been defined by different criteria: (i) similarity in house attributes; (ii) similarity in hedonic prices; and (iii) substitutability of houses. We show that spatial clustering on (i) and (ii) also satisfies criterion (iii) and develop inferences based on functional linear regression of a hedonic house price model. Then, we delineate submarkets by clustering (jointly) on the surfaces of the estimated functional partial effects and housing features. The above model incorporates both spatial heterogeneity and endogenous spatial dependence. Application to an urban conglomeration in Portugal implies submarkets that emphasize the historical and endogenous evolution of urban spatial structure.Supporting information may be found in the online version of this article.(Social) space is a (social) product … the space thus produced also serves as a tool of thought and of action; that in addition to being a means of production it is also a means of control, and hence of domination, of power. … Change life! Change Society! These ideas lose completely their meaning without producing an appropriate space. (Lefebvre, 1974(Lefebvre, [1991

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Deciding upon optimum planning actions in terms of sustainable urban planning involves the consideration of multiple environmental and socio-economic criteria. The transformation of natural landscapes to urban areas affects energy and material fluxes. An important aspect of the urban environment is the urban metabolism, and changes in such metabolism need to be considered for sustainable planning decisions. A spatial Decision Support System (DSS) prototyped within the European FP7-funded project BRIDGE (sustainaBle uRban plannIng Decision support accountinG for urban mEtabolism), enables accounting for the urban metabolism of planning actions, by exploiting the current knowledge and technology of biophysical sciences. The main aim of the BRIDGE project OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2014, 6 7983 was to bridge the knowledge and communication gap between urban planners and environmental scientists and to illustrate the advantages of considering detailed environmental information in urban planning processes. The developed DSS prototype integrates biophysical observations and simulation techniques with socio-economic aspects in five European cities, selected as case studies for the pilot application of the tool. This paper describes the design and implementation of the BRIDGE DSS prototype, illustrates some examples of use, and highlights the need for further research and development in the field.