Why do they go to the peripheries? Studying the relations between the real estate market and coworking spaces in the peripheral areas of Germany

Abstract

PurposeThe study was designed to investigate the bidirectional causation between the real estate market characteristics (residential property prices/rents (including PTR), office rents) and the rise of coworking spaces (CSs) in the peripheral areas of Germany.Design/methodology/approachBased on the desk research, the authors constructed their own database of 1,201 CSs. The authors gathered data on the residential and office prices and rents on a district level. To identify real market differences between districts with and without CSs, the authors applied the t-test for independent samples.FindingsThe second-highest number of CSs were found to operate in the office market peripheries. This phenomenon should be explained by a search for lower office rents, which CSs seek. Most CSs in the peripheral areas of Germany were only recently established in tourist-oriented regions in the south and north of Germany. In this paper, the authors confirmed that the strength of peripheral CSs lies in the hybridity of their operations: for the majority of CSs, running a CS is a non-core business. The authors argue that the role of CSs is rather limited in attracting real estate investors and boosting the real estate market in the peripheral areas of Germany.Practical implicationsThe research shows that peripheral locations are attracting CSs to significant extent. The study shows that CSs can be part of corporate real estate or workplace strategies. As the majority of peripheral CSs are located in tourism areas, the subletting of vacant spaces could be a lucrative business model for hotels, particularly in the times of pandemics. Therefore, further research should focus on the role of tourist areas in the implementation of CSs model.Originality/valueThe focus of this study (CSs in peripheral areas) is original. Additionally, applying the real estate perspective to study the location of CSs is novel as well.

Location Patterns and Drivers of Coworking Spaces in European Regions

“…The latter applies unfortunately to some frequently studied location determinants at the local scale (Vogl et al . forthcoming), such as the vibrance of the local community, the existence of social networks, the presence of education institutions and the readiness of entrepreneurs to utilize new coworking spaces model in rural areas (Tremblay and Scaillerez 2020).…”

“…With limited availability of this data on NUTS3 level, in the current study, we apply the most common proxy of regional economic performance – GDP per capita (Vogl et al . forthcoming). We believe it reveals the economic strength of the region that impacts the inflow of high‐skilled workers.…”

“…This has given rise to what we might call the third wave of coworking spaces, in which workers who choose to live far from their offices need social interaction (Tomaz et al . 2021) and the rural economy offers them plenty of (tourist) space at competitive real estate cost (Vogl and Micek 2022).…”

“…The pandemic has also made rural areas more attractive places to live now that remote working has become easier in many professions (Brouwer et al 2022). This has given rise to what we might call the third wave of coworking spaces, in which workers who choose to live far from their offices need social interaction (Tomaz et al 2021) and the rural economy offers them plenty of (tourist) space at competitive real estate cost (Vogl and Micek 2022).…”

Exploring the characteristics of non-urban coworking spaces in Germany and their perceived benefits for corporate users: novel means for supporting corporate real estate management strategies

“…The literature on CSs is growing rapidly (Vogl and Akhavan, 2022;Vogl et al, 2024). Prior studies have mainly focused on factors such as location from an urban socio-spatial and economic perspective (Di Matteo and Mariotti, 2020;H€ olzel and de Vries, 2021), or users' motivations for choosing a CS as their workplace (Clifton and Reuschke, 2022;Appel-Meulenbroek et al, 2021;Weijs-Perr ee et al, 2019).…”