Coworkers and Coworking Spaces as Urban Transformation Actors. An Italian Perspective

Abstract

Over the past fifteen years, the rise and diffusion of coworking spaces worldwide has accompanied the labour market, as well as urban transformations. In the evolution, organization and work environment of coworking spaces, we are able to see, therefore, the connection between the two realms; the evolution and changes in contemporary jobs on the one hand, and urban transformation, with the related urban regeneration effects (gentrification, etc.) on the other. Impinging on the results of a survey done in Italy, the chapter aims at critically discussing the main lines of connection between the two questions, and to read the rise and diffusion of coworking spaces in this critical perspective. We will answer questions that concern the role of coworking spaces in the career of freelancers and creative professionals, in terms of the possibility of building ties with coworkers, to form and strengthen communities of practice, but also of meeting people with diverse skills and competences, and the perceived effects of this on their work.