Digitalization and hybrid urban systems: extending new economic geography through the pentagon model of territorial capital
摘要
Digital technology is changing the way economies are structured geographically, which challenges the traditional principles of New Economic Geography (NEG). The research explicitly admits NEG to the subject of hybrid urbanism, which combines virtual connectivity with physical aggregation. The paper discusses a comprehensive framework, the Pentagon Model of Territorial Capital. It delineates the interrelationships among digital infrastructure, innovation, governance standards, social welfare, and environmental sustainability in modern urban settings. The study utilizes current advancements in digital transformation and research on spatial economics to demonstrate how platform-mediated interactions enhance agglomeration economies and alter geographical proximity by restructuring the network of linked interactions. Hybrid urban systems, defined by digitally facilitated dispersion and localized clustering, emerge from this reciprocal dynamic. This model prioritizes community governance, urban accessibility, and local innovation ecosystems above the establishment of robust regional Development trajectories. This paradigm emphasizes urban accessibility, local innovation ecosystems, and shared control over the formulation of viable regional Development initiatives. This research aims to enhance classic agglomeration theory by integrating social, technological, and environmental aspects into the analytical framework of New Economic Geography to facilitate a deeper understanding of territorial capital. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse in spatial economics by highlighting a paradigm for urban-regional Development that is both human-centric and technologically facilitated, ideal for contemporary society.