What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore the negative aspects of innovation and to propose a framework for understanding their economic geography.

April 22, 2026Open Access

Illuminating the dark sides of innovation: toward an economic geography of controversial innovation

Key Points

The aim is to explore the negative aspects of innovation and to propose a framework for understanding their economic geography.
Developed a fourfold taxonomy addressing different negative dimensions of innovation.
Conceptualized spatial pockets of innovation as areas that support controversial novelty.
Analyzed the tension between destructive creation and creative destruction.
Identified four categories of negative outcomes from innovations: false positives, negative externalities, false negatives, and undone positives.
Proposed that controversy in innovation can redirect focus toward societal benefits.
Emphasized the role of geographical areas in fostering innovation that addresses societal concerns.

Abstract

Abstract This paper pluralizes the “dark side of innovation” discourse through a fourfold taxonomy: false positives, negative externalities, false negatives, and undone positives. As these dimensions reflect the contested nature of innovations, controversy is framed as an opportunity to (re)direct novelty toward societal welfare. Central to this redirection is an economic geography of controversial innovation, highlighting the tension between exnovating “destructive creation” and enabling the “creative destruction” of alternative futures. Spatial Pockets of Innovation are conceptualized as geographical places of peripheral opportunity, offering the cushioning and institutional slack required to develop, scrutinize, and legitimize contested and unconventional novelty.

Illuminating the dark sides of innovation: toward an economic geography of controversial innovation

Key Points

Abstract

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