What is the future role of offices in the context of the changing nature of our cities? We will be looking at how office space will need to react to the way cities are likely to be changing on a national level.
2019 was the year of co-working, hot desking and high density occupation. 2020 is the year of social distancing and home working. The pace of change to the role offices play is dizzying. With little certainty as to what the future holds, we looked at the many questions arising under the theme of positioning cities for inclusive growth.
Our panellists discussed:
- Cities with high density office and retail centres have driven wealth creation. What are those urban centres going to be used for if we are not going to work every day or even every week?
- Some businesses are looking at out of town centre shared work spaces allowing staff to reduce time spent in city centres, including suburban offices or local work nodes in the city but outside the centre. Is this a short term reaction, or the start of a long-term trend?
- Predictions indicate there will be an increase in demand for collaboration spaces. How can businesses provide the necessary space for collaborative working, and will space requirements go down in the medium term?
- If occupiers will be freer from the restrictions of recruiting talent based on who can commute to a city centre office, where will they invest and which cities are the "ones to watch"?
The full webinar recording can be seen below:
