Public support for new working spaces in Italy: the case of Presidi di Comunità

Public policies supporting coworking spaces in Italy can be classified based on their orientation toward promoting employment, social innovation or local economic development. The Covid-19 pandemic has partially redefined the balance among these policies. During the lockdowns, many public and private employees started working remotely, especially in peripheral and rural areas of the country. As a result, local governments have increased their investment in local economic development policies that, up to that point, had been the least implemented. In particular, there has been an increase in public coworking spaces born from the initiative or in collaboration with private citizens. This chapter focuses on a striking example of this phenomenon, the Presidi di Comunità (community garrisons), established especially in small villages of Southern Italy during the pandemic, and promoted by the association South Working – Lavorare dal Sud, to stimulate the local creative ecosystem and establish a fruitful relationship between remote workers and local communities. These spaces aim to favour the development of communities that have been impoverished over the decades, in socio-economic terms and in terms of human capital due to skilled migrations. As lockdown periods end, many Presidi di Comunità are redefining their strategies to take advantage of the ongoing reorganisation of working spaces.