Systematic Literature Review of Location Factors of Coworking Spaces in Non-urban Areas

Abstract

AbstractThe global COVID-19 pandemic fostered the relocation of remote workers and freelancers from metropolitan to non-urban areas. During the first waves of the pandemic, regional migration flows affected the local demand for flexible working spaces in non-urban regions and attracted the interest of the local stakeholders. As a result, a growing number of coworking spaces (CSs) were established in non-urban areas. Yet the scientific discussion on what determines the location of non-urban CSs remains fragmented and has not been analyzed systematically. This chapter presents a systematic literature review (PRISMA) of recent evidence (2010–2022 publication period) on the topic of location factors of CSs in non-urban (rural) areas, and it outlines the main characteristics of CSs’ locations. Analysis is performed on the macro, meso, and micro spatial scales and, in addition, the COVID-19 factor is taken into account. The results of our study indicate that since 2010, the most frequently and continuously analyzed location factors have been those at the regional (meso) level. Secondly, the micro and macro levels of analysis have increasingly gained scientific interest since 2020 but have remained under-researched. Finally, our results show a gradually increasing frequency of occurrences of the COVID-19 factor, which since 2021 has been the most discussed location factor.