Localizing innovation: the role of coworking spaces in the innovation ecosystem

Abstract

Knowledge based economy is characterised by several critical elements, as a powerful information infrastructure; and an innovation ecosystem. The latter is defined as a network of actors and activities and relations that are important to support the innovative within the network. Examples of actors of this ecosystem are the innovative firms, the institutions and the customers. As we can read, the type of users are diverse and from different backgrounds, so there is a question that can be asked: where do these actors meet up in order to make the networking possibile? As a matter of fact, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the importance of designing spaces, in an innovation ecosystem , that are able to accommodate a range of diverse user groups to push for the knowledge transfer. In particular, this thesis will be focused on a specific typology of the above mentioned spaces, the coworking space, since in the latter years have been a rising phenomenon and the subject of several studies.

This thesis will explore the role of coworking in supporting the innovation ecosystem, both by providing a literary review and by contributing with the analysis of case studies in the province of Treviso. Since the Covid-19 brought a disaggregation of how spaces and relation are thought, the last hint will provide and analysis of the prospect of the coworking spaces after the pandemic.