Community bonds in new working spaces of a small town

Previous studies about new working spaces (NWSs) were mostly conducted in urban contexts and less is known about how they function in small towns and less dense areas. In particular, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on NWSs located outside metropolises are largely unclear. This study investigates the experiences of NWSs in a college town in the US during the pandemic. The analysis focuses on how different levels of the community can foster their development. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews with all NWS operators in Ithaca (NY, USA) led to an outline of four levels of community bonds, namely internal, local, extended, and managerial. The conclusions stress their function in strengthening the resiliency of NWSs and their future development in the context of small towns.