Implications of Working from Home for the Design of Healthy Work Environments in the Post-Pandemic City

Abstract

Remote work in cities is growing in popularity, fuelled by ongoing technological advances, the globalized knowledge economy, changing lifestyle preferences, the need to empower individuals, and – more recently – the eff ects of COVID-19. Social distancing measures introduced during the pandemic have inadvertently shown that a substantial proportion of work can be done from home or from third spaces such as co-working spaces. This paper off ers a critical appraisal of the implications of this trend for neighbourhood planning and workplace design. The appraisal is in three parts. First, to set the scene, we review recent scholarship on changing work practices in the post-pandemic city. Second, we offer a summative account based on empirical data from a survey conducted by the City of Gold Coast in Australia. This survey explored the spatial distribution of remote, nomadic, and home-based workers in cities in order to discover certain socio-economic, design and built environment features that relate to this distribution. This illustrates the impact that an uptake of home-based work has for urban planning and community design. Third, we look at some of the working from home implications for career progression and productivity, as well as physical and mental health. Based on perspectives from architectural science, environmental psychology and design, this part of the paper employs human-building interaction design scholarship to argue for the design of healthy work environments – both at home and in neighbourhoods – that increase productivity, reduce sick days, and yield be er health outcomes for the home-based workforce.