Co-working in Västerbotten : Exploring the potential of co-working places in sparsely populated areas in Northern Sweden

• Main Author: Holmstrand, Karin
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för geografi 2021
• Subjects: co-working spaces; sparsely populated areas; sustainability; Human Geography; Kulturgeografi; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184642

Over the past decades, the concept of ‘co-working’ has spread rapidly across the globe – however, mainly in urban areas. By contrast, this study focusses on the potential of co-working places in sparsely populated inland municipalities in Västerbotten, a region in northern Sweden with uneven population patterns. Aiming to explore whether co-working places would have the potential to contribute to altering the negative population trends by increasingly attracting teleworkers and by decreasing the need for long-distance commuting, the study is based on three research questions, concerning: 1) the potential of co-working places as an alternative workplace from the perspective of large organisations; 2) the potential of co-working places as a strategy for local development from the perspective of sparse municipalities; and 3) the potential of co-working places to contribute to the various aspects of sustainability. Nine semi-structured interviews were carried out with respondents from municipalities, large organisations and existing co-working places. Although the literature supports the theoretical merits of co-working places in sparse areas, the interviews show that the potential of co-working places in practice heavily depends on the number of potential co-working users, local conditions and time-specific trends in the society, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Ultimately, this exploratory study demonstrates that co-working places in sparsely populated areas is an increasingly relevant research area that deserves further attention. Under de senaste decennierna har begreppet ”co-working” spridit sig snabbt över världen, vilket också avspeglas i den akademiska litteraturen. Arbetshubbar, eller co-working places som de i studien kallas, förekommer dock främst i urbana områden. Denna studie fokuserade i stället på potentialen hos arbetshubbar i glesbefolkade inlandskommuner i Västerbotten – en region som sedan länge upplevt ojämn befolkningsutveckling. Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida arbetshubbar dels ...