This document summarizes government initiatives to support shared workspace and coworking around the world. It discusses how technological changes have impacted work and led to growth in independent workers. Shared workspaces help foster creativity and innovation by bringing people together. However, governments and developers often focus more on large companies than supporting small creative initiatives. The document outlines different approaches governments have taken to support coworking, including grants, incentives, and competitions. It also discusses challenges such as becoming too involved and competing with private workspaces. Overall, the document examines how governments can best support shared workspaces and creativity in their communities.

1. Government Shared
Space Initiatives
Around the World
MIKE LAROSA
WAYFARER ADVISORY GROUP

2. 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.

3. 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 goods
and services.
Thus began the pattern of innovation following creativity.

4. 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.

5. “
”
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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. “
”
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

10. 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.

11. “
”
The most terrifying words in the
English language is ‘I’m from the
government and I’m here to help’.
RONALD REAGAN

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. “
”
The government solution
to a problem is usually as
bad as the problem.
MILTON FRIEDMAN

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. “
”
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