The competitiveness cluster policy launched in 2005 marks a renewal of regional and industrial policies. The emphasis put on innovation and competitiveness and the widespread use of call for projects on every scale deeply transform public action and have a major impact on territorial hierarchies on a regional and national scale. This research considers the geography of competitiveness clusters in two distinct but complementary ways. It articulates on the one hand an analysis of the national innovation policy and the spatial impact of political choices and on the other hand, empirical questions about the spatial organization of competitiveness clusters and of their networks. It builds a methodological framework based on both mapping and social network analysis in order to include actors' networks in a geographical thinking. It shows the fast transformations of competitiveness clusters' networks and the integration of new actors and new territories both on a regional and national scale. It expands the analysis to regional authorities' policies and to the Investissements d'Avenir to reveal the apparition of cross sector linkages at the regional level. It offers new solutions for innovation and regional policies to identify, support and evaluate innovation networks.
