Models of Co-working in the Downtown Toronto Innovation Districts

What is firstly considered here is whether co-working, the ‘Pooling’ of small to medium-sized businesses in specifically designed buildings housed within clusters is a significant new way of working. Second, whether the construct supports the economic growth of small to medium-sized firms. SMEs are a critical element of the internal fabric of clusters. 95% of businesses in London, UK are SMEs defined as firms with fewer than 250 employees. It is argued that co-working spaces increase cultural transference between firms and assists trust relationships to form. Trust and increased organisational-cultural understanding is particularly useful for cross-sector working. The inherent knowledge-building and innovation-focused pro-social environment of the construct grows in value as more people join its community of practice, evidence of Network Effects. Co-working is a site of cross-sector cultural negotiation where the incubation and acceleration of novel products, services or experiences is the aim. This is of interest to media firms who are beginning to blend content with technology, scholars interested in organisational culture and policy-makers. Co-working has become an international phenomenon therefore it’s worthy of study but has received little scholarly attention. The empirical basis is a three-year study ‘Organisational Culture of Public Service Media in the Digital Mediascapes: People, Values and Processes” (2015–2019)’ (Glowacki & Jackson) looking at the organisational culture of ten high technology clusters. 150 interviews, ‘city walkabouts’ and grey literature were collected (2016-18). The study aims to assist public service media to understand how to partner with other sectors in a media landscape influenced by high-end technology and network distribution. The element of the project offered here specifically looks at co-working which emerged as a significant organisational phenomenon within high technology clusters, the focus is on the City of Toronto.