This paper analyses a number of European regions which, in the last two decades, have exhibited a significant shift towards knowledge-intensive industrial sectors coupled with a considerable increase in competitiveness and growth. The analysis identifies the main factors of territorial development behind each regional renewal process and captures a number of common trajectories of regional competitiveness. Interestingly, all the regional "success stories" are strongly dependent on the presence of a tri-polar regional innovation system that glues together firms, government institutions and academia. (Contains 7 tables, 1 figure, and 8 notes.)