Smart cities as “mission-oriented” innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems—insights from 20 years of experiments in Japan

To better understand place-based impacts of mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP), this article analyses the evolution of different types of smart city initiatives in urban contexts. The three smart city cases in Japan (that is, Kitakyushu, Hamamatsu and Aizuwakamatsu) show processes of recovery, revitalisation and transition where the local governments set the direction by defining MOIPs to fit with the current and future local needs and challenges. The national and subnational contexts of evolving MOIP discourses and smart city governance and implementation provide insights into the changing role of the local governments, affecting and being affected by the local innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems over time.