ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to investigate the transformative and alternative potential of spaces through empirical research in Milan and Berlin. Looking at the use of space, Berlin has a long heritage of collective spaces, which is related to the rich context of social movements and grassroots groups active in the city. The chapter introduces coworking spaces and their role in contemporary urban spaces, and then critically discusses them from three different perspectives: their embeddedness in evolving urban economies; the role they play vis-a-vis the characters and evolutionary trends of the urban spaces they are located in; and the potential for aggregation and construction of new forms of political representation for precarious workers. In the face of radical changes in labour patterns and labour market strategies in post-Fordist cities, workspaces are being transformed under the powerful influence of the diffusion of information and communication technologies, the rise of knowledge workers, and job fragmentation and precarisation.
