In Lille, ‘Knowledge Economy’ has resulted in a branded, caricatured and segregated métropole – a Parallel Métropole. By zoning and isolating Technopoles, Lille has created a geography of generic post-urban development that is nonetheless branded as cutting edge. This has been pursued at the expense of a more robust engagement with the post-industrial disenfranchised, who do not fit the specific subject that the Knowledge Economy as brand demands. ‘Knowledge Economy’ is a limited, fraught and discriminatory response to the regional economic restructuring program brought about by globalisation and the ensuing deindustrialisation throughout the developed world, particularly in second-tier cities such as Lille.
