Coworking spaces as we know them today first emerged in the United States around the mid 2000s to deal with the growing demand for shared spaces driven by the rapidly expanding freelance economy and the need for flexible work environments.The first official coworking space, San Francisco Coworking Space, was founded in 2005 by Brad Neuberg. The space provided a collaborative environment, where individuals from the same field could exchange ideas and learn best practices to enhance their products and services. However, the concept goes back further, where hackerspaces like C-base, deemed to be precursors of coworking spaces, were founded as early as 1995 in Berlin.Â
The idea of Neuberg made coworking spaces popular across the globe, particularly in developed markets like Europe and North America, where such spaces started springing up to cater to this niche demand. Over the years several coworking spaces have emerged that have transformed into major global players like WeWork, Regus (IWG), and Industrious.
When it comes to Pakistan, the country caught on to the trend a little late. Although international chains like Regus were already operating coworking facilities in the country in 2009, it was the year 2016 when the sphere of coworking spaces started gaining momentum in the country. This was the case due to the inception of a nascent gig economy and fledgling startup ecosystem, both of which were evolving quickly due to the launch of high speed 3G and 4G internet in the country a couple of years ago. During this era several local players emerged onto the scene.
However, an unprecedented upsurge in the establishment of commercial real estate for coworking spaces has been observed post COVID-19, where numerous coworking facilities have mushroomed across the country. But why is that the case, have coworking spaces emerged as a successful model within commercial real estate? In this story, Profit explores the evolution of the coworking space industry and its future trajectory. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
