Alexandru Banica (p), Karima Kourtit, Peter Nijkamp

Hans Westlund

The COVID-19 pandemic was a tremendous challenge for the world and cities were at the frontline of tackling the emerging crisis. This impacted the “magnetism” of global cities and modified them both structurally and functionally inducing new developments and approaches of various social, economic and environmental issues. The present paper tries to test whether the pandemic had a major influence in making major cities of the world more resilient and sustainable. Using Global Power City Index (GPCI) data in relation to other sustainable development and urban resilience indicators from different sources, the current assessment aims to create a complex statistical model that covers the main patterns of urban transformation during COVID-19. Using difference-in-difference models, but also spatial data envelopment analysis, we focus on comparing recent dynamics of 40 major cities in a benchmark study that traces the best performing and adaptable cities during pandemic (regarding major domains such as Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment). The link between the actual performance and the planning background was tested by looking at major policy decisions and new regulations that emerged during the crisis as a reaction to this unprecedented global hazard. The spatial difference was also taken into account by testing how accessibility influenced and was influenced by resilience and sustainability policies in the case of selected cities. The results show different contrasting reactions and behaviors of cities in different parts of the world, but also convergent initiatives that can be explained by the functioning of global networks of cities that are interacting hubs of resilience and development. The conclusions converge towards the general agreement that the COVID-19 crisis negatively affected, on the short run, most of the cities (especially livability of cities decreased), but it also drive innovation i.e. digitalization and green vectors of development as tools for more sustainable and resilient cities. There are new opportunities that emerged for the major cities to capitalize on their privileged position and transition towards smarter, greener and more livable places, but also to develop a prosilient and antifragile perspective that would be necessary went talking about future unpredictable threats.

Mehmet Guney Celbis (p), Cem Özgüzel, Pui-Hang Wong, Karima Kourtit, Peter Nijkamp

Alexandru Banica

This study aims to assess the socioeconomic, demographic, and space-based causes of the differences in employment recovery in European regions. We use data from Eurostat to explore the regional level factors that account for the differences in employment recovery across regions by using a Gradient Boosting Machine algorithm followed by a Shapley value analysis of feature effects, their sizes, and their interactions. We complement the findings by implementing an econometric estimation of a specification that is based on the machine learning results.

Hans Westlund (p)

Mehmet Guney Celbis

Coworking is a phenomenon that in Sweden is more extensive and widespread than has previously been known. In February 2022 there was as least 649 coworking firms, in 200 of Swedens 290 municipalities. There are many common features of coworking places, but there are also significant differences between them in different types of municipalities. Coworking in the metropolitan regions seem to differ between city and suburbs in terms of users' place of residence and travel patterns. It is also likely that coworking in regional centers differs from sparsely populated municipalities in terms of any other, regular workplace location and members' commuting needs. These are tentative interpretations that should be the subject of further study.
Other important questions for further studies are:
• The phenomenon of coworking as a new form of workplace that does not fully fit into the institutions, laws and frameworks that have been built up with the traditional workplace as a model.
• The function of coworking environments as the first place of establishment in a new place, as a business incubator and as a breeding ground for spin-offs of companies.
• Coworking environments as social networks and as an environment for the integration of newcomers to the region.
• Coworking environments as learning innovation hubs for their members.
• Coworking (or teleworking) in attractive areas as a recruitment factor of new labor.
• Coworking environments as bridges for informal information exchange between individuals with different regular workplaces.
• Municipalities 'and regions' attitude to coworking and teleworking in their own organization.
• Municipalities and regions' possible measures to start and stimulate coworking.