Coworking spaces and the creative economy in a peripheral city

Abstract

The post-industrial transformation of cities has resulted in the rising role of the creative economy, leading to new, emerging forms of creative work. In the last one and a half decades, and particularly due to the transformative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen the expansion of coworking, along with its functional differentiation into several distinct forms. Creative spaces occupy a peculiar spatial position between strong global connectivity and local embeddedness; a form of glocalisation. However, the creative economy is characterised by strong centre–periphery relationships, and while its forms have spread to geographic and economic peripheries, non-core creative ecosystems are affected by scale-related, network-based, and institutional disadvantages. It is thus a challenge to develop successful creative ecosystems on the periphery, posing specific problems for development policy as well.

In this paper, we examine the formation of, and the obstacles faced by peripheral creative economies on the example of coworking spaces in Pécs, a peripheral city in Southern Hungary. Within our study, we first undertook literature review to investigate the coworking phenomenon and its spatial implications within the context of the broader sharing economy, then conducted empirical research in the case study area. The empirical research, conducted in three phases during and after the pandemic, relied on field work to map the city’s creative milieu, as well as expert interviews with coworking centre managers, as well as creative leaders with long experience in the city’s creative sector.

Pécs was the first among Hungary’s provincial cities to pursue creative urban development strategies, and the cradle of the coworking movement outside the capital, but its development path has been beset with several difficulties. Valorising the city’s creative assets, and creating tradeable, sustainable cultural products remains a challenge, and the formerly powerful creative class has experienced gradual contraction and disembedding. Our results nevertheless show that a varied palette of coworking centres has emerged in the city, showing functional differentiation and diverse operational models. These centres benefit from the city centre’s cultural attraction, as well as the university’s role in creative occupations and attracting an international student body. In the years following the pandemic, signs of a new expansion, and the novel appearance of digital nomads can be observed. However, while coworking centres play a catalytic role in creative economy development, genuine cluster formation has not taken place, and advantages based on knowledge sharing and community resilience have not yet been realised. Tradeable creative output remains low, and the coworking sector continues to struggle with sustainability issues related to exogenous funding dependency and uncertain business models. Centre–periphery relationships and associated barriers thus dominate the development of coworking, as well as the broader creative economy, resulting in a slow pace of creative sector development, and the weak ability to transcend a pre-formation development stage.