InnovationHouses

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  • Shanghai Science and Technology Commission proposes 100 'innovation houses' for DIYers

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    11.12.2011

    Here we call them hackerspaces and generally they're sustained through the contributions of paying members. The Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality has decided to go with the more esoteric "innovation house" and is expecting support from the government, but the concept is the same -- a pubic place where those with an idea can go and make it a reality. The commission is proposing building 100 such studios equipped with wood and metal lathes, drills, saws and milling machines. Shanghai may be a sprawling city of over 23 million (the largest in the world), but if even just half of those hackerspaces are eventually constructed it would have one studio for every 460,000 citizens and become one of the most DIY-friendly metropolises in the world. By comparison, New York City's roughly 8 million residents share just eight.