University Design and Development

The authors reflect on the steps taken whereby universities respond to the needs of their communities and regions and in the process transform themselves into entrepreneurial universities. They are particularly concerned with the metamorphoses of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Universitat Polte ¤ cnica de Catalunya) and of its so-called Innova Programme. Universities that successfully and proactively react to their environments will evolve through three stages: the vertical university, the dot matrix university, the conventional university, to arrive at the technopolis university stage. Structural patterns, governance, relations among stakeholders, and funding mechanisms must evolve to suit the needs of each stage.