Abstract
Co-working spaces (CWSs) have emerged as a distinctive phenomenon in the sharing economy. They are collaborative environments that feed innovation and creativity under the slogan “working alone together”. While policy makers and scholars were optimistic about their role in promoting entrepreneurial endeavours and fostering growth, the spread of the COVID-19 across the world has drastically changed the way we work, communicate, and navigate daily life. This study offers a comprehensive review of the existing literature on CWSs. To do so, a bibliometric analysis is proposed, combining the use of traditional bibliometric tools with science mapping techniques. A total of 118 documents are reviewed and the results are presented at two different levels: (1) descriptive analysis of the status of the research on a CWS and (2) its conceptual structure (topics and trends). The study concludes with some directions for future research. Specifically, based on the recurrent topics discussed up to date in the literature, it is possible to identify four key areas—i.e., geographical location, physical space, business models and inclusive communities—that are promising for research and that may bring useful insights for defining co-working’s place in a post-pandemic society.
Highlights
During the past decade, the pressure for adopting green practices has mounted, at the corporate and at the individual level
To make sure the query only returned relevant records investigating co-working spaces (CWSs), the chosen keywords needed to be broad enough to include studies that address this topic from its multiple perspectives—i.e., tenants, co-workers, founders, public administration—and the search query should contain specific words that allowed narrowing down the search and exclude documents in which the term coworking was used for a different purpose than that of referring to two or more people working in the same place—e.g., in a shared office—but not for the same company
(studies examining the managerial side of CWSs, and the different typologies or business models), “labor”, “industry” and “telework”
Summary
The pressure for adopting green practices has mounted, at the corporate and at the individual level. Businesses and people are seeking more sustainable ways to live and work Within this context, we have witnessed the rise of the sharing economy across a wide range of industries, including the proliferation of a number of shared office spaces in and around cities [1]. It is still too early to know how the co-working of the future will look like, yet, we have started witnessing a variety of practices that are worth to be surveyed Rooted in this context, it is believed to be the perfect timing for reviewing how CWSs have evolved since their inception and the future that might hold for this industry. Building upon the existing works a comprehensive overview of the past and present research on this field is provided To address this goal a bibliometric analysis is conducted which, using science mapping techniques, identifies the most relevant authors, journals, institutions and countries.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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 call
