Exploring multi-local working: challenges and opportunities for contemporary cities

Abstract

An increasing phenomenon in contemporary cities is to work in multiple places, such as home, offices, and coffee shops, while simultaneously using ICT devices and networks. However, little attention has been paid to the new socio-spatial demands facing city services. This phenomenon has been empirically studied through a comparative case study in the city centre of Helsinki, Finland, by conducting observations of one public library (Library 10) and one coffee shop (Café Köket), as well as semi-structured interviews with the multi-local workers and managers of the two places. This comparative case study shows that multi-local workers with different profiles (age, level of education, contract of employment) and varied socio-spatial working practices use the library and coffee shop for several working purposes, such as individual or collective informal offices, or as temporary workplaces of a larger city network with urban ambiance. Thus, discussion of this phenomenon has shifted to a re-conceptualizing of the third place as well as future visioning of the business model of coffee shops and service concepts of libraries. The results might be useful to managers, architects, planners and policy makers when developing the network of facilities within the cities as well as the multifunctionality of urban spaces.

“Covid-working”: what to keep and what to leave? Evidence from an Italian company

“…WFH, though, poses risks such as knowledge sharing hurdle (Sarker et al , 2012), work intensification (Kelliher and Anderson, 2010), collaboration obstruction (Baruch, 2000; Pearlson and Saunders, 2001; Pyöriä, 2011), work–family conflict especially for women (Sullivan and Lewis, 2001), task-related stress, or lack of resources at home (Konradt et al , 2003). To counterbalance these common disadvantages of WFH, already before the pandemic, more and more companies have been adopting multi-location work including organizational workplaces, third spaces and other spaces somewhere “in-between” (Liegl, 2014; Kojo and Nenonen, 2015; Di Marino and Lapintie, 2018) that provide a supportive ecosystem of services. Disruptive decisions to promote multi-location work have been taken by Pinterest that ended a lease obligation in San Francisco with the aim to boost NWW and a “more distributed workforce” (The Economist, 2020).…”

“…The idea of an extension of the activity-flexible office concept beyond the building’s limits to the whole city is a likely future of the workplace, along with a system of services essential to support this ecosystem. Coworking spaces, for instance, can offer a suitable network of workspaces sparsely distributed with complementary services (Di Marino and Lapintie, 2018). A workplace policy that entails the use of workstations in various coworking spaces would accommodate the needs of several employees, including who uses the time saved for commuting to the office to work more effectively by avoiding the stress of traffic or public transport, who needs help to deal with children at home, who does not have the appropriate equipment or technological infrastructure at home and more.…”

What Do We Know about Co-Working Spaces? Trends and Challenges Ahead

“…Additional data reveals that the themes discussed in the four clusters within this quadrant are emerging and overlapping (see Figures A1-A3 in Appendix B). Articles revolving about these keywords address issues related to co-workers' level of satisfaction [70,71], co-workers' preferences (mainly from freelancers and entrepreneurs) for belonging to a "community" instead of working in isolation [72,73] and the importance of proximity, not only to others but also to local services and facilities [14,74]. Particularly remarkable are the articles in the purple circle (with shared topics with the adjacent clusters), in which CWSs are seen as a new way of working that helps companies in keeping innovation at the forefront of their vision [75,76].…”

Can Eating Make Us More Creative? A Multisensory Perspective

“…Nowadays, coffee shops continue to play a myriad of roles for businesses and communities, including creative organized activities as well as working and networking spaces [102]. The share of people working and studying remotely in these types of spaces has grown rapidly [103,104]. Therefore, these businesses have a unique opportunity to leverage the influence of multisensory integration on creativity to increase visits, engagement, and profits.…”