More than an urban type? Coworking in non-core areas
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2017-05-12
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en
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Abstract
Last years have witnessed the birth and rapid expansion of a new, communal and collaborative way of working called coworking. While originally emerging in large urban centres, nowadays, coworking spaces are developing in smaller cities as well. The purpose of this thesis is twofold; to discover how coworking is performed in non-core areas and why they emerge here. Based on a qualitative research design, two coworking spaces in smaller cities were visited and a total of 10 interviews were held.
Two different coworking configurations were found. First, an economic coworking model, top-down established by owners that seek to pursue the economic rationale of coworking by developing the space as a middleground for creatives and established businesses. Coworking here relies on the knowledge exchange between coworkers and external parties. The second configuration is a small working community model, bottom-up established by seven coworkers, who each practiced home-office and used the coworking space as a means to improve their labour situation. Instead of professional interaction, coworking here relies on the social proximity among the coworkers. The first model is best found in areas where core processes are present, whereas the second model is more universally applicable, because it is less reliant on contextual conditions and only needs a small number of coworkers to operate successfully.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen