From the metropolises to the periphery: Sustainable coworking spaces in rural Greece

From grassroots to commodification: A brief history of the coworking phenomenon

The need for coworking spaces[1] and other flexible organisational forms emerged with the gradual rise of freelance work[2], which is often performed remotely and mediated through platforms. The demand for workspace arose “from below”[3], as an ever-growing share of (primarily young) professionals, operating within the broader field of the creative economy, has taken on the burden of maintaining a workspace and covering the costs of its equipment. The very nature of contemporary work in the creative economy – informal working hours, project-based work (and increasingly fragmented into tasks), irregular payments, minimal (or even non-existent) social protection, and closed professional networks– creates a landscape of precarity that takes different forms depending on the occupational category and the working subject.

A common denominator is the instability of employment and labour conditions among users –the members of coworking spaces– in an era of polycrisis. In practice, this means that a business model based on renting workspace is itself unstable and precarious. As small collaborative workspaces spread across major metropolitan areas, large real estate actors identified coworking as an investment opportunity — an opportunity for quick and easy profit. Alongside small-scale coworking spaces, major players such as WeWork and Regus emerged, promoting corporate office and event spaces, offering space as a core service (“space as a service”)[4]. These high expectations were ultimately disappointed, with WeWork[5] entering bankruptcy proceedings and the IWG/Regus group undergoing major restructuring. I rarely agree with those who self-identify as innovators and champion the “new economy,” yet John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs, aptly remarked: “It wasn’t the pandemic that ‘broke’ WeWork — it was its business model”[6].

The commodification of coworking, and its positioning within the broader field of the hospitality[7] and tourism[8] economy, inevitably led to its ideological hollowing-out. Initially, coworking offered a social space for sharing and exchange under certain conditions, as a response to a demand for workspace that had emerged “from below.” With the adoption of coworking practices by large corporations and their integration into the wider capitalist economy, a coworking membership came to resemble little more than a gym subscription. Paying a membership fee does not necessarily mean that one actually attends — let alone that one builds social ties and professional relationships.

The deterritorialisation of work, the promise of the periphery, and the returnees as a critical mass

The deterritorialisation of work, along with its expansion into more traditional sectors of the economy beyond the creative industries –a process that accelerated during the pandemic– proved liberating for a segment of workers, many of whom never returned to the traditional office. During that period –both throughout the pandemic and in its aftermath– coworking spaces themselves functioned as entry points[9] for a highly skilled workforce in constant motion. Migration flows from countries of the Global North –remote workers and digital nomads– began seeking alternative ways of living beyond the borders of the developed West, offering them greater access to consumer goods and services[10].

Coworking spaces responded to the demand for temporary workspace — while at the same time generating value and contributing to processes of urban gentrification and the financialisation of space[11]. Alongside the platform-based short-term rental economy[12], coworking has come to complement the map of available services. The emergence of coworking and coliving spaces[13] in regional areas[14] has gradually placed smaller provincial cities such as Volos, Kalamata and Chania on the map of remote workers and digital nomads.

In the current context of growing insecurity and rising living costs, life in the regional areas promises a qualitatively better life, where everyday existence is no longer defined by the constant struggle to meet basic needs. Young professionals increasingly experience the pace of consumer life in the city as exhausting, while seeing their incomes steadily shrink. The influx of new visitors, new (temporary) residents, as well as those returning to the places where they grew up –to regional cities– carries the promise of renewal: of economic revitalisation, sociality and creativity. What we observe through the study[15] of coworking spaces in regional areas is that those with the most significant impact are often initiated by returnees. This critical mass –human capital– creates the conditions for exchange between local communities and newcomers. It builds the essential infrastructure for encounter, sociality and sharing. The aspirations of those who return rarely stop at opening a business within the “flat white economy”[16]. The establishment of a cooperative coworking space often stems from their own need to reconnect with local communities and to revitalise the places to which they return.

These workspaces in the regional areas are not typically oriented towards temporary visitors. Seasonality, short-term rentals and the expansion of the gig economy act as accelerators of displacement and as threats to local communities. Coworking spaces, by contrast, primarily seek to engage with and draw on the richness of local communities. In this process, the research vocabulary –often shaped by urban contexts– does not always help us fully grasp the practices of these spaces or their core principles of sustainability. However, by approaching the issue with as open a perspective as possible, free from urban preconceptions, we can identify a series of deliberate practices:

Community curation and a “networked” identity: Members of a coworking space are not merely users of the space but active members of a community. Through curatorial practices[17], they engage in an ongoing and productive exchange with both the space itself and the people within it. Conducting fieldwork and participant observation, I came to understand the existence of an informal protocol of collaboration among members. Users of the coworking space’s infrastructure, beyond simply using the space, are expected to be willing to contribute their knowledge and time — both in simple and more complex tasks. This collective capital is the wealth generated through co-presence and exchange. An emphasis on ephemerality, speed and temporariness acts as an obstacle to the creation of a safe space for sharing, solidarity and creativity.

Strategic partnerships with local value chains: For coworking spaces to be sustainable, they must actively pursue connections with cultural institutions, creative industries, universities/research centres, alternative agritourism enterprises and grassroots initiatives. With a clear agenda, coworking spaces can become meeting points for actors who would not otherwise interact. Their multidimensional nature is reflected both in the spatial flexibility of the environment and in training and upskilling programmes, which bring increasingly diverse social groups under their roof. In many cases, these spaces align themselves with a broader social purpose — tackling unemployment and fostering skills for social cohesion, promoting diversity and inclusion, supporting sustainable modes of production, and highlighting the rich cultural identity of the locality.

Adopting an alternative, collective orientation in internal governance: The internal organisation of a coworking space shapes the ways in which it interacts with local communities and its users. Spaces that are inclusive and open to society tend to adopt horizontal decision-making processes, involving a wide range of social groups (managers, founders, users, volunteers and other local non-expert communities). The very notion of work expands to include forms of contribution rooted in community and reciprocity, including voluntary engagement. Within the space, synergies emerge around exchange-based and reciprocal economies. Funding typically comes from a mix of sources — membership fees, public funding, private sponsorships, consulting services (often provided by the space itself to start-ups) and crowdfunding.

Impact and useful metrics: Measurement is not unnecessary bureaucracy; it is a way to actively build and demonstrate value, ensure effective governance and enable accountability. In a cooperative coworking space in regional areas, where entrepreneurial goals coexist with a public/community purpose, impact indicators reveal the extent to which the space supports the local economy and strengthens local communities, while avoiding negative externalities. Without measurement, there is no evidence base for partnerships with municipalities and other actors, for securing funding, or for making informed pricing decisions regarding programmes and activities. In practice, both economic and social impact are measured together. Economic indicators: seasonal occupancy rates, revenue stability, revenue per square metre, room usage hours, new jobs created, share of spending directed to local suppliers, estimated visitor spending in the locality. Social indicators: satisfaction levels, ratio of local users to visitors, participation of vulnerable groups, training hours and certifications, number of collaborations/projects/jobs generated within the space, number and diversity of events, accessibility.

The sustainability of coworking spaces in rural Greece is not a given; it is the result of aligning space, place and community. When a space ceases to be merely an office with reliable Wi-Fi and becomes a crossroads of communities that takes root locally, actively curates its community, collaborates with local actors and value chains, operates horizontally with diversified revenue streams, and systematically measures and communicates its economic and social impact, it can withstand seasonality, avoid negative effects and return value primarily to its people and its place. In other words, coworking becomes sustainable when it evolves from a spatial service into an open cell of development, learning and cooperation.