The contemporary relevance of Marshall to coworking space communities

Felicia M Fai, Philip R Tomlinson, Mariachiara Barzotto and Sandrine Labory

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2025, vol. 49, issue 3, 581-607

Abstract: Coworking spaces (CWSs) are a relatively new form of industrial organisation which have grown exponentially in the 21st century. Early authors on CWSs have likened them to micro-clusters. Yet this simple analogy may underplay the intricacies of CWS ‘communities’, which differ by type, goals and location with the burgeoning of this organisational form. We seek to show how Marshall’s work on industrial districts (1890, 1919) and that of his Italianate followers, can inform the communitarian aspects that create distinctions across a range of CWS types that exist today. We apply Marshallian/Italianate perspectives to a qualitative study of CWSs in three English provincial regions and find it offers a useful focussing device through which to explain the subtle differences between CWSs types, giving Marshall renewed importance in the current era.

Keywords: Marshallian industrial districts; Coworking spaces; Knowledge exchange; Industrial commons; Communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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