UK universities focused on scaling their innovation activities should learn the lessons from what Boston¡¯s famed Kendall Square has done badly as much as studying its many successes, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford has said.

While the life science quarter in Cambridge, Massachusetts is now regarded as the , having been transformed since the 1980s from a deserted industrial wasteland, Oxford¡¯s Irene Tracey said it was important not to overlook where the much-discussed example of urban regeneration had fallen short.

Speaking in London at an event organised by the ,?which is leading efforts to develop the ?between the two university cities, Tracey warned that a different model of tech-led growth was needed in the UK.

¡°There are some lessons on how not to do things from Silicon Valley and Kendall Square,¡± explained Tracey, who raised the lack of affordable housing in the Greater Boston area, particularly the accommodation available for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

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Observing that UK universities needed to ¡°learn how not to do it from American cities¡± as much as studying their various successes, Tracey said innovation growth should be built on ¡°British values¡± such as ¡°compassion¡±.

Universities spearheading economic growth agendas in their regions are also likely to be held responsible by local people for many related urban problems, such as traffic congestion and housing shortages, as well as growing economic inequalities as seen in Oxford and Cambridge, continued Tracey on the need for institutions to think strategically about these issues.

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¡°If you are a main anchor institution you need to think about putting the infrastructure part, the fairness, the justice part, first,¡± said Tracey who added that institutions ¡°should show a template about how to do this much better¡±.

Tracey, who grew up in Oxford prior to attending the university, said the ¡°anti-growth psychology¡± seen in some university cities was probably because historically many urban centres ¡°have grown really badly¡±.

Those comments were echoed by Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, who said Cambridge had ¡°grown in an unplanned way for decades¡±.

¡°If you have unplanned growth it tends to exacerbate inequalities,¡± said Prentice, adding: ¡°We have a very unequal region and we are committed in the next phase of growth to ameliorating those inequalities.¡±

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In his keynote address to the conference, held on 5 June, science minister Patrick Vallance, who is the champion of the Oxford-Cambridge arc, also emphasised the importance of improving transport, housing and other national infrastructure to support science and tech innovation.

¡°That is why, as science minister, I spent more of my time taking about reservoirs and sanitation¡­because we need to get these things right,¡± said Vallance, referring to the recent announcement on new reservoirs designed to serve the expansion of Oxford and Cambridge, with water shortages often cited as a key barrier to building more homes in the Oxford-Cambridge arc.

Addressing concerns that he was overly focused on the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, rather than the entire UK science sector, Vallance said it ¡°should not be a case of ¡®either or¡¯¡±, citing science clusters in Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland that could also be expanded.

However, spreading science and tech funding thinly across the UK would not be in the best interests of the country, said Vallance, who claimed that ¡°the worst thing is if we do this everywhere equally¡±.

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Describing the Oxford-Cambridge arc as ¡°one of the most dynamic innovation corridors in the world¡±, Vallance said it ¡°would not only be remiss¡± if it was not expanded, ¡°other countries would think we had gone mad¡±.

¡°They would be falling over themselves to have something like this if they could,¡± he added.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com