Reconfiguring the rural-urban fringe: Open collaborative workspaces as anchor points for spatial development, case studies from South Germany and the Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

Co-working spaces as collaborative workspaces (CWS) are discussed as a spatial answer to the flexibilisation of work processes and at the same time primarily as an urban phenomenon. CWS are not only understood as a possibility for mobile working, but also as an opportunity to strengthen spatial development. However, not all types of CWS can equally set impulses for developments outside the CWS itself. CWS with a high degree of public accessibility are particularly predestined to support neighbourhood, urban and regional development (Growe et al., 2020; Knapp & Sawy, 2021).

This paper differentiates between three types of co-working spaces: those that are characterised by openness and accessibility, those that address the closed user group of the co-working spaces themselves, and those that represent a hybrid of the other two types (Gandini & Cossu, 2021).

The development in western city systems, shown on the basis of city regions in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, is contrasted with case studies from the dynamically growing ‘super mega city region’ Yangze River Delta (YRD) in China, where co-working spaces as collaborative workspaces also set impulses for spatial developments outside the co-working space itself - but with some deviations from the German observations.

In China’s YRD, CWSs are shifting the demand for physical to virtual spaces by conducting more online and/or hybrid collaboration, which generates the overall trend of escaping the expensive city centers. On the edge of metropolitan regions - remote but scenic countryside, “rural co-working spaces” (cf. Bosworth et al., 2023) characterized by openness and accessibility have observed and attracted a wave of “digital nomads” that are bringing new business models to rural revitalization. Shifts in work and life patterns brought about by the pandemic and the development of ICT were identified as the major influences on this trend.

In contrast, those CWSs with the closed or hybrid user group in China are often established by strong public initiatives or supported by large corporations. Their locations are more likely to be in development zones or urban fringes, not only because of the lower rental price, but also for expectations to boost regional development. This targeted drive for “regional growth or innovation engines” has also led to the development of CWS in the YRD being influenced more by policy than by markets, accessibility, or openness.