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Will the information and communications technology (ICT) prevail over the market and agglomeration forces in inducing a negative demand in office space? The evidence of long‐term impact of ICT use is not conclusive at this stage. This study aims to empirically test whether space reduction effects of ICT are significant in the office market in Singapore. The study also seeks to examine variations in firms' responses, and how increasing use of ICT will impact on firms' operational and activities that include productivity, staffing structure and requirements, adoption of working practices, quality of customer service, and importance of a central meeting place.

The primary data were collected in a mailed questionnaire survey conducted in July and August 2002, which involved a sample of 2,049 firms randomly selected from 121 office buildings located in the CBD and other key office submarkets in the fringe of CBD in Singapore. The firms' perception of ICT impact on real estate space needs was asked in the survey, and the variations in their responses were empirically tested with respect to factors like business types, firms' attitude towards ICT use, and their ICT strategies. Two different statistical tests are used in the tests, which include a non‐parametric chi‐square analysis and a logistic regression model. The chi‐square analysis examines different treatment effects of sample firms on the response variables. The logistic regression model jointly tests relationships between the respondent firms' binary choice of ICT impact on office demand and firm business types and views towards ICT and NWPs.

Based on a mailed questionnaire survey conducted on office occupiers in CBD of Singapore, 79 percent of the respondent firms felt that there is no negative impact of an increase use of ICT on the office space; 63 percent of the respondent firms, however, agree that ICT‐enabled changes to working practices were more important in affecting real estate space changes of firms. In the logistic regressions, the results showed that four variables that represent firm characteristics and their attitude towards ICT use were significant in explaining the variations in the firms' perception of no significant impact of ICT use on office space demand. Market rent factor was found to have no influence on the perception of a negative ICT‐office space relationship by the sample firms.

Impact of ICT use on firms' office space needs have not been as pervasive as expected in office markets. There are frictions and resistance by firms and their employees against the adoption of ICT in the office place in many countries. The study based on a random sample of office occupiers in Singapore's CBD and fringe submarkets supports the observation. Only 21 percent of the respondents felt that they can reduce office space with more ICT use. However, more sample firms (63 percent) felt that ICT will enable flexible workflows, which in turn will change the way corporate real estate strategies are designed. Firm characteristics and their attitude towards ICT are factors in determining firms' perception towards ICT use in offices.

The purpose of this study is to estimate an empirical model for new office space development starts, based on the theoretical treatment of urban growth. The study introduces a new parameter, namely, office space-usage pattern, to the office space development equation and tests whether developers respond to non-price measures in deciding to commence new developments.

The study first introduces a co-integration approach based on an error correction model to test for long-run relations and short-run dynamics of new office space development. A multivariate regression model is then introduced to identify significant determinants that influence office development starts. The study uses annual data over a time span of 30 years.

Estimated results provide strong evidence that the newly introduced parameter exerts a positive impact on new office space development. It suggests that if the average floor space per employee changes by one percentage point, new office development starts would change by 1.5 percentage point, indicating even a marginal change in floor-space usage per employee (SPE) would have a significant impact on new office space development. Empirical estimates also suggest a strong response of office development starts to the lagged land supply and office space stock.

The paper raises the concern about the importance of non-price measures of the supply-side of the office market. There is scope to address the research questions using better data sets. It is also possible to model the supply adjustment process more dynamically in an error correction framework.

The findings would suggest that non-price measures, such as space-usage pattern, need to be taken into account when planning and estimating future office space needs. This finding provides valuable insight for our current knowledge on factors affecting new office supply.

This is the first study to introduce office floor space usage as a determinant of office development starts in an urban growth conceptual framework for the Hong Kong office market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the structure and dynamics of Singapore's Central Area office market. A long-run equilibrium relationship is tested and a short-run adjustment error correction model are estimated, incorporating appropriate serial error correction. The long-run equation is estimated for office rent, with office employment and available stock.

With the vector error correction model (VECM), the lagged rent, available stock, office employment, vacancy and occupied stock (OS) can impact the rental adjustment process. Equilibrium rent on the whole reacts positively to lagged rents, available stock, office employment, OS and negatively to vacancy rates (VC). Past levels of positive change in VC and rental growth can have negative effects on current OS.

While good economic conditions signaled by increases in rents increase the supply of new stock (available space), higher rents and VC dampen the long-term occupied space (space absorption) in accordance with economic theory. Available stock can be forecasted by past rent and absorption levels owing to the developer's profit-driven nature.

An understanding of the interaction between the macroeconomic variables and the Central Area office market is useful to domestic and foreign investors and developers, who then can better evaluate their decision making in commercial real estate investment and development projects.

It is implicit that the Singapore Central Area office market requires at least a year before any rental increase can potentially dampen the space demanded. Firms are attracted to locate there owing to agglomeration economies and they are willing to pay premium office rents in conjunction with office space intensification in the Central Area. Newly built space is positively affected by past rents. Urban Redevelopment Authority and private real estate developers should be wary of excess office sector vacancies by avoiding over supply, even though an increase in the supply of office space in the Central Area can have a positive impact on office rent in the longer term. Most of the office space development would tend to meet the demand in the long run. Rental stickiness is exemplified as rental changes are affected by lagged rent.

Policy makers are better enabled to stabilize the office sectors of the real estate market if so required.

The paper adopts the VECM and validated by empirical evidence, to investigate the long-run equilibrium relationship and short-term corrections underlying the dynamics of the Singapore Central office market. Delay in the restoration of equilibrium in real estate markets is attributed to factors like lease terms and supply lags.

With strategies including flexible work practices, tenants are increasingly seeking flexibility in their physical office space and layouts. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent investors address tenants’ changing demand for office space with reference to layouts in new and existing office buildings.

A qualitative study comprising in-depth individual interviews with senior portfolio managers of all listed property trusts investing in the office sector in New Zealand was undertaken.

The findings confirmed property investors incorporate several adaptive and flexible space design and specifications in their modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These include adaptive building structures, efficient floor plates, flexible building services, advanced IT networking, high-quality building amenities and modern building materials. Building structures and layouts are designed to be modified quickly and cost effectively to address tenants’ changing needs. Implications affecting tenant demand for flexible spaces on their lease contracts were also identified.

The findings from this research have implications for management of office space. Although the data were sourced with reference to buildings located in New Zealand only, the findings are applicable to office buildings in other countries.

The study provides an insight into design strategies adopted in modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These findings are of practical application to professionals involved in the design, development, investment and valuation of modern office buildings.

The paper provides in-depth insights into how investors meet tenants’ changing demand for physical space which is linked to delivering improved and stable market-driven returns to investors.

This study aims to examine the trends in space per office worker and the influence of a number of factors on the ability to reduce space per worker. These trends are important in that they impact future office demand along with property values.

Using both survey and empirical data a simulation model is used to examine the impact on space per worker over the course of a typical lease. Factors considered include the length of lease, the worker growth rate of the firm, turnover and time to fill positions, the type of organizational management hierarchy, whether dedicated or non-dedicated space is utilized and firm policies toward working out of the traditional office.

Space per worker will continue to decline over time, yet collaborative work environments and the effects of traditional management and cultural momentum suggest that downsizing will take time. Counter to the initial hypothesis, growing tenants do not over-consume space in the early years but rather tend to renegotiate leases when growth spurs the need for more space.

It appears that modest economic growth is sufficient to offset downsizing trends, but some markets will be more affected than others. Portfolios dominated by larger than average tenants or U.S. Federal Government tenants will be affected much sooner by downsizing efforts compared to smaller private sector tenants. The mix of occupant types and age also matters, and this study does not delve into significant occupant-type differences by market. This study also does not directly consider design influences on productivity other than those mentioned through surveys: natural light, air quality, temperature control, noise and the presence of collaborative space.

Forecasters of office space demand must input an estimate of the growth in professional employment and then apply a space per worker assumption. This assumption in most markets will be declining, by as much as 30 per cent over several years. Washington DC is already being affected by downsizing, yet most markets with reasonably good economic growth will be able to offset most of this transition to more intensively used space.

Much of the existing stock needs to be rebuilt. Much of how the authors work and where is changing. This requires new perspectives on how productivity is measured and how remote workers are measured.

This is the first paper to try and reconcile the views of commercial real estate owners and operators with those of corporate space planners, both of who have opposite sides of the same lease. It is also the first to point out the explicit reasons why downsizing efforts are sometimes not as effective as expected.

This paper aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on office space in Johannesburg. This study further explores the role of changing work practices in the office sector in South Africa because of the pandemic and its impact on future office space use planning and management.

To understand the footprints that the COVID-19 pandemic has left on the office space market in Johannesburg, this study uses semi-structured interviews, which were administered to corporate office users, and a thematic analysis was adopted to understand the views, perspectives and expectations of office users.

The study showed that space users perceive COVID-19-induced remote working as having benefits, opportunities and challenges. A notable shift in office space utilization has emerged, with employees increasingly opting for roles that permit remote work. This newfound flexibility, accommodating both on-site and remote work, often makes working from home more appealing than traditional office environments that may no longer align with users’ preferences for office spaces.

The study is limited to Johannesburg, South Africa, and may not apply to other African markets. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted, and analysis and results were deduced; this may be considered a limitation of this study.

The pandemic’s impact has brought about irreversible changes, compelling policymakers and business leaders to strategize and prepare. This proactive stance aims to prevent avoidable challenges for employees and companies during future pandemics. A thoughtful approach to the post-pandemic world can usher positive changes in the office and property sector. This includes the coexistence of both remote work and on-site working models.

This paper provides valuable insight into some of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa that are essential for future office space use planning and management. The insights from this study extend the literature and provide novel knowledge based on an office sector in the “global south.”

Market segmentation, the dividing of a market into distinct subsets of customers, is a conceptual approach that commercial real estate developers can use to identify unmet needs. By developing properties for which there is an unmet need instead of those that are already adequately supplied, the developer achieves a temporary monopoly. To accomplish this, the market area must be defined, an inventory of existing space must be made and the demand for particular types of space must be estimated. The office space market and the retail space market are used to illustrate the process of identifying the type and size of building that should be built as well as determining when it should be built.

This paper investigates how large UK corporate occupiers perceive the potential role of flexible office space in their office portfolios in a post-pandemic context.

The research methodology is qualitative and applied. For a longitudinal survey, convenience sampling was used to obtain co-operation from 11 corporate real estate managers with responsibility for managing large corporate real estate portfolios spread across a range of business sectors and countries. Semi-structured interviews were selected as the core research method to seek and to optimise the balance between discovery and generalisability.

Although the pandemic has led corporate occupiers to fundamentally re-appraise where and when different work tasks are performed, it is not yet clear whether this has major implications for the flex space sector. The flex space model, with its blending of various occupiers and activities, is perceived to be poorly aligned with an increasing emphasis on the office as a core corporate hub facilitating connection, collaboration, enculturation, learning and creativity. Since most flex space is concentrated in central locations, it is also not well positioned to benefit from any decentralisation of office functions. However, as the flex space sector evolves in response to structural shifts in employment and working practices and business change, its various products are likely to be a continuing requirement from corporate occupiers for short-term solutions to demand shocks, the need for rapid market entry, accommodation for short-term projects and access to desk space in multiple locations.

Understanding occupiers' drivers in their decision-making on selecting the method of occupation will assist investors in how they might adjust what they offer in the marketplace.

Whilst there has been a substantive number of surveys of corporate occupiers' perceptions and intentions regarding their office portfolio, this paper focusses on a specifically on the flex space sector. Whilst previous research has mainly been extensive, this research study is intensive.

Examines the failure of the City of London office market over the last 30 years to transmit information on impending oversupply to developers as the market moved towards the top of the demand cycle. Notes that the resulting collapse in investment values and the exposure of the banking system to large‐scale non‐performing loans provides a picture of potentially destabilising market failure. Proposes that in order to prevent oversupply occurring and thereby secure investment values, a form of self‐regulation is required.

Examines the economic basis of current approaches to analysing and forecasting the office property market. It considers both an aggregate regional and urban approach to these tasks, and contrasts these with a disaggregated urban/intra‐urban approach. Notes the need for local area forecasting and argues that this is most appropriate at the urban level. Appraises the barriers to future development of aggregate urban models and notes that it is currently possible to use a disaggregated approach to provide detailed local forecasts. Critically reviews the disaggregated approach with the aid of a case study of the Paisley office market. Concludes that there are considerable shortcomings in data and in the understanding of office market dynamics, and that more analysis should precede the development of forecasting models.