Abstract
This introduction discusses the objectives and concepts underlying the Special Issue on the new spatialities of work in the city. It highlights the urban impact of both the changing spatiotemporal working patterns and the increased diversity of workspaces that have resulted from post-industrial restructuring, globalisation, labour market flexibilisation and digitisation. Even pre-COVID-19, when the research in this Special Issue was undertaken, this impact on the urban structure and the social fabric of cities was significant, but it had remained underexplored. Here, therefore, we question models of work and commuting that continue to assume the spatially ‘fixed’ workplace, and explore how new understandings of workspace and multi-locality, developed in this Special Issue, can inform future research. This, we argue, is more important than ever as we come to understand the medium- and long-term impacts of pandemic-altered work practices in cities. We further argue that the spatialities of work need to be connected with research on health, job quality and wellbeing in cities – such as, for example, on the risks that COVID-19 has exposed for driving and mobile work.
Highlights
Spatial and temporal working patterns and practices in cities have undergone changes due to post-industrial restructuring, globalisation and digitisation
Transportation and urban studies have investigated the consequences of technological and societal changes for residential location and commuting patterns in cities and metropolitan areas mainly through the telecommuting of employees who could partly work from home long before the COVID-19 pandemic (Mokhtarian et al, 2004; Zhu, 2013). These studies do not agree whether telecommuting leads to urban sprawl (Kim et al, 2012; Ory and Mokhtarian, 2006), and little attention has been paid to homeworkers who are not employed by organisations, this research has suggested that residential location choice is changing as a consequence of changes in telecommunication, work and society, but that we are only at the beginning of understanding how and what this means for cities
Using the data on workers who live in urban areas in the United Kingdom, the findings reveal that workplace location is associated with certain features of job quality and that this relationship is further interconnected with self-employed work
Summary
Spatial and temporal working patterns and practices in cities have undergone changes due to post-industrial restructuring, globalisation and digitisation. Through this Special Issue and the seminar series that preceded it, we have aimed to contribute a critical discussion to the interdisciplinary field of urban studies about the spatial ‘fix’ of the workplace, as well as collect a new evidence base on the impact of spatiotemporal changes in contemporary cities on workers, residents and communities.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
