New Workplaces—Location Patterns, Urban Effects and Development Trajectories

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introducing the Worldwide Phenomenon of Flexible Workplaces

   • Mina Akhavan, Stefano Di Vita, Ilaria Mariotti

   Pages 1-9

3. Phenomena

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

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   2. Third Places for Work: A Multidisciplinary Review of the Literature on Coworking Spaces and Maker Spaces

      • Mina Akhavan

      Pages 13-32

   3. Exploring New Workplaces with Social Network Analysis

      • Fabio Manfredini, Stefano Saloriani

      Pages 33-49

4. Actors

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

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

      • Ilaria Mariotti, Carolina Pacchi

      Pages 53-63

   3. (Social) Innovation in Makerspaces: Re-embeddedness of Physical Production?

      • Marianna d’Ovidio

      Pages 65-80

5. Places

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-81

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   2. Situating the New Sharing Economy: “Regional Geographies” of Greater Seattle’s Coworking Facilities

      • Yonn Dierwechter

      Pages 83-110

   3. After the Rustbelt: Sustainability and Economic Regeneration in Detroit

      • Mark Wilson, Eva Kassens-Noor

      Pages 111-130

   4. The Urban Integration of Coworking Spaces in France: The Case of the Loire Valley Region

      • Divya Leducq, Christophe Demazière

      Pages 131-148

   5. Contemporary Coworking in Capital Cities: Evolving Geographies of Workspace Innovation in London and Rome

      • Stefania Fiorentino, Nicola Livingstone

      Pages 149-167

   6. The Geography of Coworking Spaces and the Effects on the Urban Context: Are Pole Areas Gaining?

      • Ilaria Mariotti, Mina Akhavan, Dante Di Matteo

      Pages 169-194

   7. The Emergence and Spread of Collaborative Makerspaces in Italy

      • Cecilia Manzo

      Pages 195-207

   8. New Workplaces in “In-Between” Territories. Productive, Educational and Urban Dimensions of Emilian Makerspaces

      • Cristiana Mattioli

      Pages 209-231

   9. Where Are the Knowledge Workers? The Case of Silicon Valley North in Ontario, Canada

      • Filipa Pajević, Richard Shearmur

      Pages 233-250

6. Agenda

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 251-251

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   2. The Metamorphosis of Production. Which Issues for Policy and Planning?

      • Simonetta Armondi, Stefano Di Vita

      Pages 253-275

   3. The Effects of Covid-19 on Coworking Spaces: Patterns and Future Trends

      • Irene Manzini Ceinar, Ilaria Mariotti

      Pages 277-297

This book explores the innovative workplaces, namely coworking spaces and makerspaces, that are emerging as a consequence of digital innovations and the related development of the knowledge economy and society in the wake of deindustrialization. Drawing on international and multidisciplinary research projects, fresh insights are provided into current trends, research methodologies, actors, location patterns and effects, and urban and regional policies and planning. The aim is to cast light on all aspects of these new working and making spaces, highlighting their innovative geographies and the complexities of their nexus with urban and regional change processes from both the theoretical and the empirical point of view. The book includes multiple illuminating case studies from the advanced economies of North America and Europe, carefully selected for their relevance to the topic under analysis. This book is designed for an international audience comprising not only academicians but also policymakers, representatives of civil and entrepreneurial associations, and business operators.

• digital technologies
• knowledge economy
• coworking spaces
• makerspaces
• innovative workplaces
• geographies of innovation
• urban regeneration
• regional regeneration
• urban policy and planning
• regional policy and planning
• landscape/regional and urban planning
• urban geography and urbanism

• Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

  Ilaria Mariotti, Stefano Di Vita, Mina Akhavan

Ilaria Mariotti is an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Economics in the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano (Italy). She holds an M.Sc. in Regional Science and Ph.D.s in Spatial Sciences Transportation Economics. Her research interests include new working spaces and their effects on entrepreneurs’ performance and the economic and urban context; firm location, industrial districts, and clusters; and the impact of multinational firms on the home and host economies. She has been the coordinator of a number of research projects and has published widely. 
 
Stefano Di Vita is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, with teaching and research responsibilities. He holds an M.Sc. in Architecture and a Ph.D. in Urban, Regional, and Environmental Planning. From 2005 to 2010, he was a project collaborator with SITA srl, Brescia, with responsibilities for urban and regional planning and design. He is the author or editor of seven books, including the Springer book “From Smart City to Smart Region: Digital services for an internet of places” (2016), as well as many book chapters and journal articles.
 
Mina Akhavan is an Adjunct Professor and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, where she is working on the project “MOBILAGE. Mobility and Aging: Daily Life and Welfare Supportive Networks at the Neighborhood Level”. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy Design and a Ph.D. in Spatial Planning and Urban Development. She has previously collaborated in various research groups (LaBELT, FARB, etc.), and her research interests include the sharing economy and new workspaces, urban policy mobilities and transnational studies, and mobility studies.