Government Shared

Space Initiatives

Around the WorldMIKE LAROSA

WAYFARER ADVISORY GROUP

The Evolution of Work

The convergence of a growing creative and sharing based economy, with

developments in mobile technology have fundamentally changed the idea

of “work”.

This evolution of work has resulted in sizable growth of the independent,

knowledge based worker.

The impact of technological advances have also allowed companies to

become more efficient, requiring a smaller workforce and an overall

decrease in space leased.

Creatives are considered by many to be the pioneers of freelancing and

contingent employment.

Sharing Space to

Share Ideas

The fundamental idea of shared workspace has existed since the days of ancient Greece.

The Agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city.

These spaces soon after evolved into marketplaces where merchants began trading and selling their goodsand services.

Thus began the pattern of innovation following creativity.

Creativity vs. Innovation

Creativity is coming up with the

big idea.

Fostered by the creation of a

community and its engaged

members.

This experience is best described

as “Accelerated Serendipity”.

Innovation is the efficient process

of executing that idea.

The development of teams and

structure to transform the idea into

marketable goods and services.

Innovation cannot exist without

creativity, yet creativity remains

nothing more than ideas without

proper execution.

“”

Creativity is not something that can be simply imported into

the city on the backs of peripatetic computer hackers,

skateboarders, gays, and assorted bohemians but must be

organically developed through the complex interweaving of

relations of production, work, and social life in specific urban contexts.

A.J. SCOTT - CREATIVE CITIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND POLICY QUESTIONS, JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS - 2006

The Relationship Between Creativity

and Business Comes Full Circle

When creativity can be properly fostered and cultivated, innovation

can successfully be converted into new business opportunities.

Successful new businesses need space.

Increase in space needs result in more jobs, more people and

increase in overall tax revenue.

Examples include Snapchat, originally founded in a bungalow in

Santa Monica, they now lease tens of thousands of square feet in

the newly dubbed “Silicon Beach”.

Governments and Developers acknowledge the need to drive innovation, but are often distracted by billion dollar valuations,

rather than adopting smaller, creative initiatives.

The Interconnectedness

of Government and

Real Estate

Governments are dependent on real estate developers to invest in building quality residential and commercial space in order to attract residents and businesses to drive the growth of tax revenue.

Real estate developers rely on governments to offer tax incentives and act as a broker for large scale deals involving re-zoning, the creation of new parcels for development and securing the support of citizens and business.

The recent decrease in leased office space in conjunction with a post GFC real estate boom is creating a rise in vacancy rates, and concern for governments looking to make up the lack of tax revenue.

Recent Revelations of Government

The need to build and support creative communities.

Provide new and innovative economic anchors.

Diversify local workforces.

Drive activations of empty spaces.

Reverse “Brain Drain”.

Develop communities that are more “livable”; reducing need for

long commutes, congestion and air pollution.

Attract larger companies to relocate in their region.

“”

We realized after chasing a lot of companies that

instead of attracting one 200 person business, we

should attract 200 one-person businesses. The

economic impact is bigger, and some of those

businesses will grow.

RYAN COONERTY, FORMER MAYOR OF SANTA CRUZ, CA AND CO-FOUNDER OF NEXTSPACE

The Challenge at Hand

Governments are coming to terms that coworking and shared

workspace can be the solution to fostering a creative community.

The question remains how to attract shared workspaces and

incentivize them to open in their respective areas.

Business centers have a more proven business model and can sign

traditional leases yet are lacking in creativity and community.

Coworking spaces have the engaged creatives and community,

but often are forced into less desirable neighborhoods due to the

need for more affordable rents.

Developers may not be willing to accept lower rates or non

traditional leasing agreements.

“”

The most terrifying words in the

English language is ‘I’m from the

government and I’m here to help’.

RONALD REAGAN

Successful Government Support Is

Possible

The City of Milan, Italy has been incredibly successful in the launch

of a coworking space voucher program.

They are supporting the creative and shared workspace economies

by offering independent workers vouchers.

Independent workers who might have stayed at home or in a

coffee shop now can afford a membership.

Increased spend on memberships drives the overall shared

workspace marketplace. Effectively creating a healthy and thriving

industry.

Washington, DC Business Improvement Districts support coworking

by offering “pop-up” events promoting different spaces.

Grants, Loans and Sponsorships,

Oh My

Governments have increased the distribution of grants, loans and

sponsorships to assist in the opening of spaces.

While helpful in supporting the initial launch of the business, spaces

often have difficulty maintaining operations as they easily become

dependent on that initial funding.

Public opinion and elections influences the ability to renew annual

financial support. Automatic renewal cannot be guaranteed.

Government entities often expect much in return for their

investments and can at times drive spaces into a direction that is

best for the government and not necessarily best for the space.

“”

The government solution

to a problem is usually as

bad as the problem.MILTON FRIEDMAN

Government as a Competitor

Paris, France is one example where government initiatives proved troublesome to the market overall.

Excited about building and supporting a creative community, the government opened up a space that was free and open to the public.

Unexpectedly, they effectively killed the marketplace by de-valuing the benefits of paying for a coworking space.

Libraries in the US are experiencing a resurgence in popularity as they are offering services and programs varying from yoga to hackathons to actual rented dedicated desks.

Increased competition from government means having to better position the benefits of your space.

Governments Seeking

Benefits of Coworking

OpenGovHub in Washington, DC have created a GovCombinator, where high-level city officials would sit side-by-side with people from civil society, business groups and the other stakeholders needed to solve discrete urban problems.

The exact mix of people would change depending on the issue under consideration, which might be something like deciding on a new bike route or figuring out how to implement a new ordinance.

Spaces have the ability to sign governments up no different than other members.

“”

I had to stop going to auditions

thinking, 'Oh, I hope they like me.' I

had to go in thinking I was the

answer to their problem.GEORGE CLOONEY