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This paper aims to determine the advantages and disadvantages associated with integrating a coworking environment into the real estate portfolios of large office-based organizations. The study discusses both external and internal coworking solutions.

This paper is a literature review and qualitative research based on 12 semistructured interviews with high-level real estate practitioners, including users, suppliers and consultants.

The authors examined the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating coworking environments into the real estate portfolios of large organizations from the four perspectives of Krumm et al. (2000). These perspectives were operationalized through the 12 real estate added value parameters of Jensen and Van der Voordt (2017). The findings show that improved adaptability is the greatest advantage of external coworking solutions (facility management perspective). The most significant advantage of internal coworking is related to stimulation of innovation, creativity and knowledge sharing (general management perspective). The disadvantages of external and internal coworking partly overlap and are mainly the negative effect on the corporate culture (general management perspective).

The findings contribute to the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating both external and internal coworking solutions from multiple perspectives and allow to compare them. The authors developed and tested an operationalization of the four perspectives of Krumm (2000) through the 12 added values of Jensen and Van der Voordt (2017). Opinions and perceptions of professionals regarding internal and external coworking models are presented in a framework and related to earlier findings.

This study aims to illustrate the potential of coworking spaces as one way to achieve optimal workplace arrangements and corporate real estate (CRE) agility, especially for large organizations. The authors suggest understanding coworking spaces from the boundary organization theory and organizational growth model.

This study takes a threefold theoretical approach: conducting a literature review and identifying the gaps in coworking studies for large organizations, applying the organizational boundary theory in tandem with organizational growth models in the context of coworking spaces as a part of the workplace ecology and identifying future research agendas for coworking studies.

This study proposes a conceptual framework of how coworking spaces can be viewed and used as a boundary object throughout the organizational growth phases. Besides, four major future research areas are proposed: case studies and/or empirical evidence of coworking spaces as CRE buffer zones and boundary objects for organizations, coworking space design and different formats of boundary object-infused collaboration, coworking space design and management for its own agility and flexibility and how coworking affects employees’ performance, health and well-being and professional training/mentoring.

For large organizations, there is a clear pressure to rethink CRE to increase workplace agility, flexibility and resilience, much accelerated with the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the effective use of coworking spaces as a part of CRE portfolios will help enhance corporates’ state and ability to reassess, realign and replan their CRE portfolios.

Many existing studies about coworking spaces are based on observations and self-reported justification at an individual level. Whether and how coworking can benefit companies at an organizational level is largely unstudied and worth more attention. This study illustrates a new theoretical understanding of how coworking spaces can be a part of CRE portfolios and bring potential benefits of inter and intraorganizational collaboration throughout the phases of organizational growth.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the German coworking industry has grown rapidly as one of the fastest-growing coworking markets globally. The pandemic, however, has brought the industry to an abrupt halt. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to explore the impact the pandemic has had so far on German coworking spaces.

Using an online questionnaire, quantitative data from 38 coworking space owners, operators and employees of a total of 77 spaces in Germany has been collected regarding their situation before, during and after the peak of the first wave of the pandemic from Spring until Summer 2020. The data has been analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The reported income losses significantly outweigh a decrease in costs of the spaces. Nevertheless, the member base seems rather unaffected, and coworking spaces are exploring adaptations to their businesses with a strong shift to the digital environment. Fear of re-imposed governmental restrictions is evident, as well as justified with a looming second infection wave.

Due to the sample size, the data may lack generalizability. Therefore, recommendations for future research are provided.

Data on the impact of the pandemic on coworking spaces is scarce. This paper provides a first necessary overview for the industry as well as the academic field to allow for action to be taken.

Coworking space had been a trajectory in the commercial space operation and management globally. Commercial coworking/tenancy space is confronted with an unexpected shift. This paper aims to examine the peculiarity and investment characteristics of flexible office space and the post-COVID implications on coworking office space practice and investment. This is with a view toward providing investors with an understanding of the dynamics underpinning flexible office space investment in the Nigerian emerging property market.

This study adopted a qualitative research approach. Open-ended interview questions were used to solicit information from nine coworking space operators in the urban property market of Ibadan, Nigeria. The structured interview data were analyzed using Atlas.ti – a computer-aided qualitative data analysis software.

The findings show that the factors influencing demand for flexible office space in the study area include flexibility, affordability, cost-effectiveness, entrepreneurship motivations and opportunity for risk sharing. The results also revealed that coworkers are predominantly mobile individuals who require a workstation away from their homes or a traditional office setup. Management challenges include deficient infrastructure, low level of awareness, stealing and high cost of operations. The impact of COVID-19 includes a drop in patronage, rent refunds, changes in working pattern and job loss, restriction to online and remote operation, the extra cost of putting prevention measures in place, changes in tenancy contract and drops in return on investment.

This study has implications for investors in commercial space occupation and leases in comparable developing economies.

The novelty of this paper lies in its relevance with the emergent behavioral changes, orchestrated from the novel COVID-19, which compels reevaluation of workplace practices and investment for economic improvement, especially as it relates to commercial real estate investment.

The purpose of this study is to make the implementation of a recommended Web service that allows one to formalize the search for a suitable coworking according to individual preferences as a decision-making task, as well as find a coworking area in an optimized setting for both the individual employee and those who carry out collective professional activities from a large number of alternatives in a shorter time.

In the implemented system of each place category in coworking areas, a search will be carried out according to formalized parameters and with an individual approach. To find the set of the required services of the coworking zone, the target functions of maximizing the priority of the place and minimizing the cost are determined, between which the user can set the ratio. As a constraint, the general fund of financial expenses for the time to reach the zone from different locations is used. The results of problem formalization are presented in the form of a mathematical model.

The use of a problem-oriented solution can significantly reduce the laboriousness of finding a suitable workspace.

The development of coworking zone practices contributes to the development of a professional infrastructure of the city and minimizes the cost of equipping each enterprise with additional tools, as well as manages labor resources and tracks trends of both professional and novice workers’ needs.

Coworking (shared flexible working spaces) grew exponentially before the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis led to spaces closing but demand is likely to increase as homeworking/remote working levels remain permanently higher post-pandemic. Previous studies largely focused on ‘satisfied customers’ – freelancers and entrepreneurs in the urban core; but these are a poor guide to future preferences given an increasingly diverse set of potential users. Understanding these preferences is of significant value to future providers, investors and real estate operators.

The authors employ a mixed-methods approach, observing self-organised coworking sessions and online platforms, and a questionnaire of the coworking networks/groups. The authors address the research questions: i) how do individuals' make decisions about how and where to engage in shared working and ii) do they consider locational characteristics (beyond accessibility) and social and physical (environmental) aspects of coworking?

Proximity to home is a key result. Participants are mostly local and seek community, with a strong emphasis on effective work routines. Results stress the importance placed on social factors and in-space amenities, but affordability is also important. Coworkers experiencing both informal groups and organised spaces rate the informal experience as significantly more beneficial.

There are implications for the real estate element of future provision and funding models.

The authors contribute to the understanding of coworking preferences/motivations through addressing methodological limitations of previous studies. Rather than surveying individuals in coworking spaces, the authors study individuals who engage in coworking in various forms which will reflect the diverse (users, spaces, locations) demands for future coworking.

During the past decade, the coworking concept has expanded and evolved along with the industry associated with it, so that references to coworking often refer to notions quite distinct from the original conception. The purpose of this paper is to establish a classification of contemporary coworking environments and clarify the scholarly, as well as the industry usage of a coworking model.

The paper reviews popular and scientific literature and the authors’ field experience in the industry to derive three defining features of coworking and distinct categories that help clarify the concept and can be used to identify and evaluate coworking spaces.

The main finding behind the following paper is the taxonomy of contemporary coworking spaces that takes into account the broad spectrum of shared workspaces that commonly receive the coworking label, specifies the features required to warrant that label and provides a framework for understanding the defining factors of a coworking model. The taxonomy showcases four unalike types of coworking spaces and the three types of non-coworking shared offices that are repeatedly and somewhat mistakenly labeled as coworking environments.

Understanding the core differentiation between unalike models would enable scholars to guide and structure the study to evolve in coworking research. The taxonomy can be seen as a base for further research in the field of coworking that helps ensure scholars are sufficiently specific and distinctive in the shared subject of their research, suggests a roadmap for future coworking research and provides a tool to evaluate real-world examples of work environments concerning the degree they fit the coworking concept.

The purpose of this paper is to cross-reference the defining perspectives of coworking as an emerging integral model of conscious business.

The methodological framework is built on transdisciplinary research of spatial scale of existence by using the qualitative approach of participant observations and interviews.

The empirical data suggest that independently organized and self-financed coworking spaces can be categorized as conscious businesses.

Coworking spaces are evolving and hybridizing. While a conscious business model can be cross-referenced with independently run coworking spaces that target the self-employed as their user group, this is not certain for larger, franchise-based coworking centers as a larger sample would need to be researched and analyzed.

No attempts have been made previously for identifying cross-references between the concept of conscious business and the coworking model.

This paper aims to review the concept and characteristics of coworking space, especially physical and operational characteristics and its objectives. The authors propose three models of coworking spaces, such as revenue, synergistic and customer contact, which organizations can use as a part of their corporate real estate strategies to build workplace flexibility and resiliency. This paper also addresses research gaps and a research agenda for future research.

This paper is a literature review of academic research focusing on coworking spaces. Because of the relatively limited existing academic literature on the topic, industry sources and white papers are also reviewed.

The authors categorized common threads of the existing literature on coworking spaces to emergence and growth trends, the types of users, the type of work to be completed in these spaces, characteristics of coworking spaces and the desired outcomes of coworking space models. Coworking spaces are expected to grow worldwide because of the increase in knowledge-based economy, the “digital nomad” lifestyle and mobile technologies, however, there is limited research on the relationship between spatial and operational characteristics of coworking spaces and users’ collaboration, social well-being and creativity. No research identified fully articulated the nuanced differences between the types of coworking spaces now found in the real estate ecosystem.

There is limited academic, empirical research focusing on coworking spaces. Thus, the search for literature itself is limited to a small number of papers. Although the authors extended the search to non-academic sources, the conclusion of this study is tentative because of the prematurity of the topic.

This paper urges the identification of research questions, considering the fast growth of coworking spaces and suggests future research directions based on newly proposed models. Industry practitioners, including building owners, managers, coworking space providers and corporate real estate practitioners, can consider using variations of coworking space concepts and characteristics, as they understand the importance of social needs and connectivity among users. By addressing the history of the coworking space as a concept and business model, and updating the types of models to include new coworking spaces, the authors provide further options to industry practitioners as to how to integrate coworking into their real estate.

The paper aims to analyse a specific configuration of coworking space that emphasises the production of social value in the territory (resilient/welfare-oriented coworking). This kind of space represents the current evolution of coworking that recovers the original meaning of coworking space to promote social changes, questions the role of the physical space and brings to the fore its connections between the internal (space) and the external (territory).

The paper presents an action research on a rising network of coworking spaces. The action research was based on qualitative interviews of the founders and main stakeholders of the network and monthly meetings discussions with the steering committee of the coworking spaces.

The paper provides some key elements that highlight different meanings related to the value produced by the coworking spaces and related interpretations of the material and immaterial characteristics of the spaces. The results also highlight different managerial challenges connected with these interpretations.

The main results of the study shed light on the fact that it is not enough to focus on material aspects of the coworking space, such as the design and the dispositions of furniture and the curatorship of the relationships among coworkers, if the desired outcome is a reinterpretation of work against the consolidated individualistic paradigm. Rather, the boundary work is the condition that permits to sustain and maintain the evolutionary trajectory of coworking in the most innovative direction. Inside a network of different stakeholders, aimed at integrating individual and collective needs, the constant crossing of boundaries between people, relationships and contexts is the process that permits to generate new meanings and possibilities of action (affordance), holding a transformative potential.