ABSTRACT
The interest in studying collaborative spaces is growing quickly, yet we still know little about the situation in the Middle East. To fill this gap in the literature, this chapter explores the proliferation of coworking spaces in the capital of Lebanon for the first time. It presents an overview of the location factors and then discusses the two main clusters of coworking spaces. Moreover, it provides analysis of the Beirut Digital District through desk research, fieldwork, online questionnaires, and interviews with the managers carried out in earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the year after. The emergence of new workplaces in Beirut is discussed as a tool for urban regeneration and for attracting a new class of creative workers to the neighbourhood. This empirical study also highlights the dramatic impacts of the current pandemic on the coworking communities and the uncertain future for the business.
