The Localization of Different Types of New Working Spaces in Central Europe

This chapter deals with the emergence of six different types of working spaces in Central European cities. Coworking spaces (CSs), makerspaces, fab labs, hackerspaces, living labs, and corporate labs are legal entities that in scientific literature are referred to as new working spaces (NeWSps). This chapter provides a summary overview of the emergence of individual types of NeWSps for in 138 selected cities of Central Europe—specifically in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia—over the last 15 years. The results of our research showed that between 2007 and 2021, a total of 712 NeWSps entities were established in V4 countries, with CSs being the most represented (approximately 85% of the total number of NeWSps are coworking paces) and living labs the least represented. Our results further showed that the larger the number of inhabitants in cities and countries, the greater the number of established NeWSps in them. In the final part of the chapter we present examples of good practice for individual types of NeWSps from selected cities of the V4 countries.