Design Dimension

Traditional Innovation Cluster

Sustainable Hypercluster

Theoretical Underpinning/Source

Geographic Scope

Primarily regional or national.

Transnational, macro-regional, network-based.

Evolution of cluster theory for digital age (Hossam & Eräranta, 2025).

Primary Goal

Enhance regional competitiveness in specific sectors.

Solve “Grand Challenges” (e.g., decarbonization) via cross-sectoral synergy.

Mission-oriented innovation systems (Schlaile et al., 2024).

Governance Logic

Often single-center, led by a dominant firm or regional authority.

Polycentric, networked governance with shared rules.

Adaptive institutional ecosystems (“SDG integration...”, n.d.).

Sustainability Integration

Often an add-on or separate “green” initiative.

Built-in core design principle (eco-efficiency, circularity).

Integrated models of regional sustainable development (Medeu et al., 2025).

Risk Mitigation

Relies on diversification within a sector/region.

Employs linkage redundancy across the network.

Economic resilience theory (Sutton & Arku, 2022).