Mission Bay in San Francisco, the new “digital health” hub

Mission Bay is the name of a major economic and urban project in downtown San Francisco. It combines the urban regeneration of extensive rail/port wasteland and the development of a biotech cluster around the new campus of the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF). This Note rapide supplements the Science Cities series of case studies.

Mission Bay is a recent and ambitious campus-cluster development project. Planned in the city centre, it contrasts with the majority of American clusters in outlying areas, beginning with its illustrious neighbour, Silicon Valley, and places San Francisco at the forefront of an economic revival based on multiple small businesses in line with the municipality’s economic priorities. At Mission Bay, the vitality of UCSF and redevelopment of its campus play a leading role in the expansion of a cluster specialised in life sciences and new technologies. It is now nearing completion, which makes it possible to identify the key lessons.