Interwoven spaces: How interactions in physical space facilitate knowledge exchange and market transactions in virtual space

Abstract

With the wide adoption of the Internet worldwide, virtual space (or cyberspace) has become a key concern for geographers. Virtual space and physical space are increasingly recognised as interwoven, interdependent, and complementary. However, extant literature has offered insufficient explanations of how virtual and physical spaces are entwined. Specifically, little attention has been drawn from an economic geography perspective to understand how virtual space and physical space complement each other to facilitate economic relations and activities. To fill this gap, this study—through a case study of the creative ceramic industry in Jingdezhen, China—unpacks the interwoven nature of virtual and physical spaces and reveals how the interdependence between these spaces facilitates the two most important dimensions in economic geography: knowledge exchange and market transactions. Identifying certain limitations of virtual space alone in enabling knowledge exchange and market transactions, this study finds that knowledge transfer and co-production via virtual communities and electronic commerce via online retail and social media platforms occur most effectively when being combined with some interactions in physical space. It shows that relational networks, trust, and mutual understanding established through offline interactions could significantly encourage knowledge exchange and market transactions in virtual space.