Photo: Yadid Levy / norden.org
5. Impacts on urban cores
At the height of the pandemic, many feared a decline in the vitality of urban cores as employees without essential, site-specific jobs were encouraged or required to work from home and maintain social distance. While the impact on urban cores post-pandemic has been less dramatic than expected in many geographies, several strategic planning questions regarding the city centre have emerged.
Migration patterns within and outside of urban cores
Studies in the Nordic Region show how urban centres experienced population decline in relation to increased remote work during the pandemic, but the implications on urban cores can be difficult to track. Using the grid-based Nordic Urban-Rural Typology, researchers found that the general trend of population growth continues to be most dramatic in urban regions, with inner and outer urban areas experiencing the greatest population increases (Stjernberg et al., 2024). During the pandemic, the Nordic countries in general experienced positive internal net migration for outer urban areas and rural areas close to urban areas, and negative internal net migration in inner urban areas.
Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all experienced a change from negative to positive internal net migration to rural areas close to urban areas in 2021; simultaneously, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden all saw decreases in internal net migration in inner urban areas whilst outer urban areas experienced an increase from 2020 to 2021 (Sánchez Gassen & Stjernberg, 2024). These shifts suggest that the pandemic may have contributed to encouraging people away from inner urban areas and towards more suburban areas and nearby rural towns.
A study published by Region Stockholm in 2022 also provided evidence linking remote work opportunities to migration patterns, showing that 33% of people who moved away from Stockholm County to another county in the region expressed remote work opportunities as a factor in their decision-making, alongside housing and access to nature (Andersson & Wolf, 2022). In qualitative interviews with employees of several Swedish public agencies, Thulin et al. (2023) learned that remote work opportunities triggered several people to relocate away from central urban areas, aiming for more space within their homes to work and around their homes for enjoying nature. Yet Haunstrup Christensen et al. (2024) report that, in Denmark, only about 10 percent of those who moved during the pandemic restrictions were motivated by the pandemic itself. And Thulin et al. (2023) also heard from several interviewees that they decided to relocate to the city centre to be closer to their workplace. Another 2023 study from Tillväxtverket delivered results showing that those with remote work potential in their jobs are more likely to participate in trends of counter-urbanisation whilst maintaining their jobs in the City of Stockholm (Eliasson, 2023). Tønnesson (2021) examined migration in Oslo, finding that people who moved away from the city in 2020 were, to a greater extent, those who had teleworkable jobs compared to previous years. The study suggests that, if telework continues to be possible, there may be a greater chance that such residents may not return to the city.
In 2022, the City of Helsinki reported that an increase in remote work may have an impact on employees' choice of place of residence. While city centre locations are likely to remain attractive, the research suggests that remote work may increase residents’ interest in nearby suburbs, smaller towns, and even sparsely populated areas (Lönnqvist & Salorinne, 2022). Referring to research by Delventhal et al. (2020), the report predicts that jobs in cities are likely to focus all the more on the best and most accessible locations, despite remote work opportunities providing more locational freedom for employees. Similarly to the international perspective from Florida et al. (2023, see below), they suggest that this is due to agglomeration benefits of large cities (Lönnqvist & Salorinne, 2022).
Despite some people’s changing mobility patterns, research suggests that the high interest in a hybrid style of remote work may mean a less dramatic emptying out of urban cores than once predicted (Randall et al., 2022-a; Eurofound, 2024). Within this remote work research project at Nordregio, Granath Hansson and Guðmundsdóttir (2024) considered the possibilities of remote work in smaller Nordic towns. They indicate that hybrid work will limit the distance that people may be willing to live outside of capitals since they may continue to require access to the city centre. But if the city centre is to continue to thrive in a new era of remote work, urban attractiveness seems to play a key role. The continuation of hybrid work also poses a challenge to the office space dilemma. One article from Finnish media outlet YLE has highlighted the importance of location, accessibility, and adaptability of office spaces that continue to accommodate employees gathering (Sandell, 2022). This means that, depending on the type of company, it may be unlikely that centrally located offices will relocate entirely, especially if they already benefit from the urban agglomeration effects.
These results are emphasised in much of the academic literature.
Agglomeration effects
From an international perspective during the pandemic, Florida et al. (2023)
Importantly, this paper provides a social analysis of urban cores without conducting a methodologically rich study, and the ideas proposed by Florida et al. (2023) are more speculative than scientifically substantiated.
Other international studies discuss the impact of the pandemic on urban cores. A study investigating post-pandemic recovery of Central Business Districts (CBD) in 62 US and Canadian cities found that the form and function of downtown cores have changed, but this change started already before the pandemic (Chapple, 2023). Furthermore, they report that cities with larger and more densely populated downtowns, larger professional and tech sectors, and higher dependence on public transport, have struggled more to recover. In another study, Srivastava (2022) identified three effects of the pandemic on downtown San Francisco: less demand for office space, declining retail demand and closure of stores, as well as lower tax returns. A Canadian-based study by Sweet and Scott (2024) points to lower activity in downtown Toronto which might have long-term effects and lead to spatial restructuring and new uses of space. When cores are deemed less valuable, real estate prices and wages may change. However, the authors caution that outcomes will depend on reactions by real estate owners and changes in aggregate economic activity. Currie et al. (2021) conducted a questionnaire with residents of Melbourne, Australia, during the pandemic to demonstrate how people would work and move within and outside of the Melbourne CBD. Based on residents’ expectations, they predicted that working from home would continue to increase after the pandemic, but at a much higher rate within the CBD compared to the rest of the city.
Possible impacts on the use of retail and office premises
Florida et al. (2023) discuss future potential developments of central shopping areas. They point out that retail was under pressure before the pandemic due to the rise in online shopping. Entertainment is said to gain on goods-selling and there is an increasing acceptance of more experimental and showroom retail premises. In line with Holiss (2021), a mix of production-living-working spaces are referred to as something that could reshape high streets. Further, the authors state the need for more flexibility in planning if housing or live-work spaces are to be incorporated into high street textures, and the urban form should be adapted to potential future health risks. Increased hybrid work and a related decline in the presence of high-income earners in central areas could have a negative impact on real estate prices and rents there. It is hypothesised that this could increasingly turn cores into cultural and civic gathering places rather than shopping and office hubs. The authors suggest this could have a counter-gentrification effect and allow for more people to live centrally, including artists and creatives (Florida et al., 2023).
From a retail and office perspective, Mischke et al. (2023) investigated the impact of the pandemic on real estate in “superstar” cities in Asia, Europe, and the US. They report that office attendance is down 30 percent, and that this has ripple effects on demand for retail and office space, as well as housing. However, they caution that real estate is local, and that demand will vary substantially by neighbourhood and city. They also suggest that demand may be lower in neighbourhoods and cities with dense office space, expensive housing, and large employers in the knowledge economy. To adapt to, and even thrive, in this new reality, the authors suggest embracing a hybrid approach, for example, by developing mixed-use neighbourhoods, constructing more adaptable buildings, and designing multi-use office and retail space.
Scenarios for urban cores under hybrid work practices
Globally speaking, some unfolding patterns show signs of a “business as usual with greater use of hybrid working model” scenario. Initially described by the OECD (2021), this scenario suggests that macro trends of urbanisation will continue, predominantly due to cities’ capacity to cluster economic and social activities for innovation and productivity, as well as having positive environmental benefits by enabling large populations to live compactly (OECD, 2021). In their original formulation of the scenario, the OECD predicted that most workers would remain in urban areas in order to maintain access to centralised workplaces at least some of the time, but that the increase in remote working in a hybrid form would mean reduced pressure on public transport, increased mobility between localities of remote work outside of cities (e.g., second homes), and greater flows of people in and out of non-urban regions (OECD, 2021). However, some patterns also suggest that the doughnut effect
The doughnut effect implies that people will move out of urban cores and settle in commuting zones in the outer rings of major metropolitan areas. An extension of this would indicate that the area of the commuting zone would widen as people opt for lower density and more affordable housing while maintaining proximity to urban amenities (OECD, 2023).
In his paper “The post-pandemic city: speculation through simulation”, Batty (2022) underlines the difficulty in predicting long-term effects of pandemic practices but suggests a number of potential scenarios for London. The results of these simulations show that the central city regains its primacy post-pandemic in the majority of the scenarios. Delventhal et al. (2022) model a permanent increase in working from home arrangements in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. They find three effects “(1) Jobs move to the core of the city, while residents move to the periphery; (2) Traffic congestion eases and travel times drop; (3) Average real estate prices fall, with declines in core locations and increases in the periphery” (Delventhal et al., 2022, 1). Both remote workers and populations with on-site jobs are claimed to make welfare gains—remote workers save time and money through less commuting and moving to more affordable neighbourhoods, and on-site workers spend less time commuting thanks to easing traffic congestion and have improved access to jobs and lower average real estate prices. Delventhal and Parkhomenkoc (2023) add that broader access to jobs has the potential to reduce wage inequality between residential areas and thus work against spatial concentration of talent and spending.
Photo: Casper Johansson / unsplash.com
6. Polycentric cities and the 15-minute city ideal
If urban cores are impacted, what does remote work mean for the multiple cores in our cities or the potential to develop in this trajectory? For many years, the idea of polycentricity has been discussed as a sustainable planning model, as well as the 15-minute city. In recent years, urban planning discourse has considered “chrono-urbanism” as a concept that suggests people gain a higher quality of urban life when they enjoy shorter, active forms of mobility (Moreno et al., 2021). Can remote work catalyse these planning ideals while ensuring they are carried out in equitable ways?
Links between remote work and dense urban forms
Several international studies have considered the links between remote work and dense urban forms. In reference to an earlier study (Circella & Mokhatarian, 2017), Sweet and Scott (2024) note that remote work opportunities may “induce polycentric sub-centres and regionally scaled agglomeration[s]” which would become more important than traditional, downtowns or city centres. Greaves et al. (2024) echo the idea of planning neighbourhoods according to principles of the 15- or 20-minute city, but as a way to encourage healthy lifestyles and active mobility in the same neighbourhoods where people are working from home. The most well-known of these models stems from Moreno et al. (2021) who lay out six key functions that an area should provide within a 15-minute active mobility radius: living, working, healthcare, commerce, education, and entertainment.
Glackin et al. (2022) argue that increased day-time populations in non-central areas might contribute to higher levels of localisation and less car-dependent cities, which has important planning implications. The authors link larger day-time population density to urban amenities, walkability, and liveability. In their study on Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, they find that the potential to regenerate areas based on remote work-related population changes is large in residential areas (but negative in CBDs and other high job-density areas). They argue that remote work patterns could be used as a catalyst in strategic planning and regeneration with the aim of creating higher levels of amenities in suburban areas. To promote such a development, planners could identify areas for increased services and residential infill as well as land which could be reactivated or amended. Land use planning, community engagement, and localised place-making policies are mentioned as critical in the development. The authors suggest that the polycentric, neighbourhood-based cities that planners have been advocating for over decades could find a new form if less focus was made on high job-density areas and instead turned to transforming suburbs into more sustainable localised living areas.
Gurstein (2023) discusses the potential of creating more liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods through the integration of home and work activities. Yet, she stresses that active policy and planning is needed to prevent urban sprawl and negative development pressures in rural areas as well as negative effects related to land use and private and public transport. Čok et al. (2022) also highlight the need for active planning for remote work. Based on their research of mixed developments in predominantly single-family housing areas in Slovenia, Čok and colleagues raise a concern for how planners should respond to business activity taking place in traditionally residentially zoned spaces. They highlight the need for new social agreements to ensure that the changing functionality of planned spaces can provide people with healthy environments for living and working.
Similarly, Budnitz et al. (2020) highlight the importance of land use planning to respond to emerging patterns of work flexibility by providing greater access to amenities for telecommuters in order to facilitate shorter travelling distances for non-work-related trips. In their review of several studies, Budnitz and colleagues (2021) point to the desirability of telework in neighbourhoods where workers have other services and activities accessible by foot or public transport, a claim substantiated to a degree by Li et al. (2024) who find that remote workers prefer to work from places in mixed-used, high-density areas that are in proximity to residential areas. Because telework is both a work practice and an accessibility practice, Budnitz et al. (2021) state:
where the urban form and local land uses enable easy access to nonwork practices, the practice of telecommuting is more likely to mean spatial and temporal flexibility and integration with other practices to those performing it. If, furthermore, access to a variety of nonwork activities is possible without recourse to the private car because telecommuting is encouraged in mixed-use, walkable places, then its practice is also likely to mean environmental and social sustainability to those performing it (166-167).
The main kind of environment to stimulate sustainable remote work is that of mixed-use urban design, which could be in the shape of compact urban cores or polycentric spatial structures. According to Li et al. (2024), “this transformation can create diverse spatial combinations, provide flexible office spaces, and decrease commuting distances by making services easily accessible via public transport, walking, or cycling. This, in turn, helps reduce carbon emissions and energy use, contributing to the development of sustainable cities” (11). As planners consider how to organise the necessary needs and functions for residents in a city, international research has highlighted the importance of green and blue spaces for supporting health and well-being, particularly for residents who are working from home (Astell-Burt & Feng, 2021; Greaves et al., 2024; Zenkteler et al., 2023).
Gurstein (2023) claims that remote workers need to be better recognized in the planning of services, as well as social and recreational facilities, and neighbourhood design needs to facilitate locally based activities. Rather than being prohibitive of home-based work, municipalities should support economic activities in the home, as this could stimulate economic growth. This could be especially relevant in relation to new businesses. However, Gurstein (2023) also recognizes resistance in some neighbourhoods, as home-based work is said to create heavy traffic, noise, and demand for parking, highlighting all the more the need to plan such neighbourhoods in ways that link to sustainable transportation.
Chrono-urbanism in the Nordics
The 15-minute city concept (also sometimes described in terms of 10-minutes or 1-minute, or as nearby towns) is not a wholly new idea in the Nordic countries, but it has gained traction in recent years. Several recent studies have explored the concept in Oslo (e.g., Di Marino et al., 2023; Akrami et al., 2024) and in Swedish cities (e.g., Elldér, 2024). Akrami et al. (2024), highlighting the work of Di Marino et al. (2023), note that, while the inner urban area of Oslo already largely abides by the principles of the 15-minute city, the success of the model beyond the city centre depends, in part, on the distribution of work. “Supporting increased remote working (from home, co-working spaces, etc.) could be a way to strengthen Oslo as a 15-minute city…” (Akrami et al., 2024, 13).
Taking Oslo (and Lisbon) as case studies, Di Marino et al. (2023) explore whether new working spaces, such as co-working spaces and libraries, play a role in promoting sustainable urban development models like the 15-minute city concept. The researchers found that new working spaces in cities were not evenly distributed, indicating that residents are limited in their options to work remotely (but not from home) in the same neighbourhood in which they live. However, the researchers suggest that planners and decision-makers can incorporate co-working and other remote working spaces (libraries, cafés, etc.) into urban strategies as a way to revitalise both central and peripheral neighbourhoods into attractive towns that abide by the 10 or 15-minute city principles (Di Marino et al., 2023).
Elldér (2024) has also explored the evolution of the 15-minute city in Sweden. In a longitudinal study of 200 Swedish cities, he finds that regardless of scale, cities seeking to develop according to the 15-minute city ideal require reducing urban sprawl and increasing density and mixed land use, specifically by establishing housing developments where jobs are currently located. However, given the nature of remote working practices, it is also possible that the 15-minute city can be achieved through adding working spaces and other social functions into predominantly residential areas. A 2022 report from Helsinki looked at remote workable jobs at the district level. At the time of study, workplaces suitable for remote work were concentrated in the inner city and in a few major Southern and Western districts (Lönnqvist & Salorinne, 2022). This spatial imbalance suggests some potential unequal distribution at a more granular scale and could indicate where polycentricity is already pronounced. A Danish study has also pointed to the importance of services and meeting points as well as green space in disadvantaged areas (Haunstrup Christensen et al., 2024).
Potential inequalities
Other remote work research touches upon potential inequalities that can be exacerbated by remote work. Planners need to be aware of how, for example, creative-city inspired urban development approaches can widen gaps between white collar remote workers and service-industry workers (Lusoli, 2022) or how developing attractive residential areas for remote work can lead to socioeconomic class segregation in cities (Thulin et al., 2023). Gurstein (2023) and Greaves et al. (2024) also warn against the potential for cities to become further spatially segregated—with those who can work from home living in “amenity-rich neighbourhoods” while those who cannot are subjected to poorer neighbourhoods (for example, areas where walking and cycling are more possible and are able to provide greater opportunities for physical activity and health lifestyles). This concern is further emphasised by Axhausen (2022), who warns that, if people pursue less dense living environments with larger, affordable housing, policymakers will need to consider how this affects spatial equity: “movers might sort themselves by income and taste into problematic patterns” (86), and Akrami et al. (2024) warn that “planning based on accessibility studies should take into consideration the socio-economic inequalities within urban areas” (15). Florida et al. (2023) echo these concerns and ask whether such developments will be inclusive and public-oriented. Zenkteler et al. (2022-a) also argue that, while remote work could facilitate walkable neighbourhoods in urban village formats, remote work is not evenly distributed spatially, but concentrated in attractive, high-amenity areas, which has implications for urban inequalities. Based on their research in the city of Gold Coast (described as a lifestyle destination) the authors argue that spatial proximity is not enough to foster the transfer of knowledge and ideas that many remote workers seek, but that third spaces must be available. In a linked publication, researchers find that remote workers prefer built environment and design features that make collaboration and knowledge exchange possible. This has implications for local neighbourhood centres which may involve collaboration between owners and tenants (Zenkteler et al., 2022-b).
There is also a discussion of the potential of remote work to assist in revitalising existing communities and supporting new communities in distressed areas (Gurstein, 2023). Florida et al. (2023) foresee a limited remote work effect at the inter-metro scale. However, they warn that regional inequality will not be addressed through remote work but needs continued policy attention. Denham et al. (2023) investigate the potential to revitalise suburbs in Melbourne, Australia, based on remote work opportunities of populations. They find correlations between concentrations of people that are able to work remotely and suburban liveability and socioeconomic advantage. The authors conclude that, whereas remote work has the potential to revitalise suburbs, it also could add to differences between advantaged and disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and policy should address spatial disadvantage. According to the authors planning in disadvantaged areas should include public transport that supports links between housing and employment at the suburban level, and improved amenities such as access to green spaces and high-quality mixes of shopping and services that can be reached by walking.
While many of these studies discuss the potential of remote work on compact urban forms from various international contexts, the research provides relevant insights for Nordic cities and regions who also stand to benefit from steering development in these directions while taking into account the potential inequalities if these models are not applied in balanced ways. Within Nordregio’s Remote work and multilocality post-pandemic project, spatial models like polycentricity or the 15-minute city have not emerged as key topics. In part, this is because such plans or strategies for compact urban forms have pre-dated the pandemic, and the topics of previous reports have not covered the spatial component in depth or lacked data to do so at the time of study. However, the lack of discussion around these spatial models in the case studies for smaller towns or rural areas could also suggest that planners have not yet linked remote working practices to these kinds of spatial implications.
Photo: Roar Paaske / visitdenmark.dk
Implications for policymaking and planning
The latest remote work research implicates the work of planners and policymakers. As Greaves et al. (2024) comment: “These is an onus on those responsible for land use/transport planning and policy to respond to the impacts of this shift [towards remote work practices]” (10). Several academic articles provide explicit policy recommendations based on the research, or otherwise indirectly point to ways in which local, regional, and national decision-makers might respond to the changes. That the pandemic has been classified as a “work-life shock event” (Thulin et al., 2023) suggests it will have ramifications which require both a strategic response and a proactive vision for how our built, social, and economic environments might evolve to guide, encourage, or dispel remote work practices.
Already in 2021, the OECD suggested that, in light of increased remote working practices, governments should:
… establish flexible policies to adapt to changes in settlement patterns, especially with land use and public transport policies as well as the promotion of resource efficiency and circular economy practices among households. The long-term preparedness of local governments and co-ordination policies to improve structural attractiveness and factors for development (including energy efficiency) of all regions is of chief importance for benefiting any future scenario. (OECD, 2021)
Box 8 highlights policy and planning recommendations discussed in the academic literature, while the text below elaborates on these points in parallel with the previous reports published during the Remote work and multilocality post-pandemic project. Despite the segmented list, policies should also be cross-sectoral in nature. In the coming years, it will be important for planners and policymakers in the Nordic Region to consider how remote work strategies can align with achieving the goals to become the most sustainable and integrated region as outlined in the Nordic Vision 2030.
- Consider developing a transport policy bundle in which remote work is one strategy connected with other policies (e.g., congestion pricing, parking costs, crowd-pricing in public transport, transit-oriented development, developing a jobs-housing balance, developing high quality Mobility as a Service (MaaS) systems, offering mobility sharing). Integration of mobility and the organisation of the built environment is key. The specific bundle of policies should depend on the needs, interests, and context of the municipality/region.
- Safeguard public transport as a form of sustainable mobility given that remote work opportunities may prevent ridership from returning to economically sustainable numbers.
- Promote sustainable regional transport by encouraging transit-oriented development. Regional transport policy should also enable active mobility for hybrid commuters who have relocated to outer urban areas but maintain the need to visit centrally located offices. The research suggests that, for those who can work remotely in urban areas, people are likely to stay within the vicinity of the major city due to agglomeration effects. To prevent urban sprawl, new development in outer urban areas should be encouraged along transport lines and organised in ways that can encourage polycentricity in larger cities or nearby the existing town centres in smaller towns and rural areas.
- Enable active mobility through changes in the built environment. This means guiding development that ensures a compact urban form, investing in walking and cycling infrastructure, and providing essential services to residents within a 10 to 15-minute active mobility radius.
- Invest in measures that boost small-town and rural attractiveness. Attractive and relatively affordable housing, as well as qualitative and affordable modes of transport and digital infrastructure are areas of special relevance to remote workers. Although developments are always local, research cautions that many larger cities, university towns, and touristic destinations might retain their agglomeration benefits despite remote work trends, while actors in smaller towns most probably need to have more explicit strategies for their urban cores.
- Consider alternative and flexible uses of real estate, public space, and land use. Changes in demand for office, retail, and housing in urban cores should be surveyed and incorporated into local planning. Larger changes in demand have the potential to adapt the form and function of urban cores. Planners might explore adaptive reuse methods for real estate and public space to maintain attractiveness albeit in new, multi-functional forms. In rural municipalities, this should include providing flexible space in centrally located areas that enables co-working for remote workers. Such third places as crucial to improving attractiveness (also in suburban locations), including potential for transfer of knowledge and ideas.
- Remote work trends have spurred interest in suburban locations close to larger cities. However, planners might consider work-live (or mixed-use) neighbourhoods in cities that are rich in amenities (e.g., public services, diverse housing supply, green spaces) but do not require extensive travelling, which aligns with the 15-minute-city ideals and are already present in many smaller towns. However, development of work-live environments might cause unwanted externalities; therefore, developments should be sustainably anchored so as to prevent creating socially and economically segregated neighbourhoods. To create higher levels of amenities in suburban or distressed areas, strategic planning could identify land which use could be reactivated or amended, for example, into service areas or for residential infill. Land use planning, community engagement, and localised placemaking policy are mentioned as critical in the development.
- There is evidence that neighbourhoods and cities with dense office space, expensive housing, and large employers in the knowledge economy may be highly affected by remote work trends. Policymakers in such areas should consider adaptive strategies that ensure sustainable development.
- Promote a diverse housing supply and housing affordability as these are central in the development of attractive locations for a wider spectrum of citizens.
- Ensure residents have access to high-quality digital infrastructure that supports remote work opportunities, among other services that support a high quality of life. This is particularly important for rural municipalities. Furthermore, national policies might consider providing dedicated support for local initiatives aiming to attract or retain residents, particularly for rural municipalities that may rely on skilled workers from elsewhere.
- Consider those who can and cannot work remotely. Policymakers must account for discrepancies across gender, sector, and socioeconomic status in future policies in order to ensure remote work strategies benefit both those who can and cannot work remotely.
- Review income tax distribution models with the aim of financially compensating municipalities with high proportions of second homes.
- Policymakers working with labour issues should be aware of how different population groups experience flexible work arrangements. This may imply, for example, how housing may be adapted or developed to support different kinds of people who may work from home. It is important to keep in mind that remote workers are a heterogeneous section of the population, and different employees from different sectors may require different kinds of flexible work arrangements (both in terms of work environment and employer agreements). It is therefore important that remote work continues to be arranged through collective agreements and at the individual level among employees and their employers.
New developments in transportation policy
With regards to transportation, both internationally and in the Nordic countries, it is clear that public transport services continue to suffer. This may require increasing state funding to support regional transport systems and/or incentivising ridership for commuting and leisure purposes by maintaining high service levels that make or keep public transport as an efficient and reliable way to move through one’s city or region. It is especially important for public transport authorities to maintain timetables that enable those who cannot work remotely to continue to access their workplaces. Major regions have different approaches for incentivising riders, but long-term strategies remain unclear as hybrid work continues.
While the congestion issues pointed out in studies from other global cities may be less applicable for the Nordic context, the discussion around travel behaviour and active mobility is highly relevant. The academic research suggests that remote work as a transport policy needs to be integrated with other policies such as congestion pricing, parking costs, transit-oriented development, and developing a jobs-housing balance in order to produce sustainable results. However, the specific elements of a transport policy bundle should reflect the local context and unique goals of the municipality and/or region.
Studies show mixed results as to whether or not remote workers travel more or less on the whole than those who do not work remotely (depending on factors such as residential location and non-work related trips); however, remote workers may be more likely to choose active modes of travel for their trips (for leisure, to the office during hybrid work weeks, or to co-working spaces) if the built environment supports such modes. This is important when considering how remote work can play a role in lowering GHG emissions. The increase in remote work during the pandemic showed how limiting mobility can definitively decrease emissions from transport and energy sectors, but some areas may have more potential than others to benefit from these changes, and the offering of and investment in sustainable transport options plays a key role.
Remote work is, in many ways, a mobility behaviour; therefore, local transport policymakers need to consider how policy can guide rather than merely react to changes in commuting practices, home and work locations, and mobility. This may ensure that these new ways of living and working are managed in a sustainable way.
Policy opportunities related to changes in the built environment
When it comes to spatial planning to enable sustainable remote work practices in the future, several key principles stand out from the research, namely that urban environments should be compact, accessible, and attractive. Overall, there is a need for planners to understand the opportunities of, demands for, and flexibility around remote work, where these are manifested spatially in an urban environment, and what kinds of actual and perceived access people have to necessary amenities. Land use planning can then effectively respond to people’s needs while guiding behaviours and daily working practices to happen in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways.
Though evidence showed some notable changes in migration patterns during the pandemic, with some people moving out of urban centres to outer urban areas and rural areas, research points to continued trends of urbanisation. As of 2024, it is difficult for studies to show whether or not remote work will affect how centrally people choose to live, but in general, research and evidence of continued work in hybrid formats supports the idea that, if people do move, they may more likely remain within commuting distance to office locations.
While some municipalities witnessed reduced demand for office and retail space during the pandemic, research points to the potential of emerging live-work environments, following existing mixed use, sustainable development models. Major urban areas are not likely to experience heavy flows of out-migration. However, due to the two-way effects of remote work, it is possible that such urban areas may have greater numbers of employees who live but do not work locally, or that those living in smaller towns or rural areas may take advantage of employment opportunities in larger urban areas based further away. Though the intensity of these dynamics is still uncertain, they may nonetheless affect individual employees’ mobility patterns and social behaviours. Since studies provide some mixed results as to whether remote workers travel less than non-remote workers, it is important that the urban environment can accommodate efficiency in travel by providing mixed-use neighbourhoods, made accessible by active modes of travel so that residents can link errands within a single trip and/or access multiple services by environmentally friendly means of transportation (e.g., walking, cycling, public transport). In larger cities, this may mean planning for polycentricity, or multi-centred spatial structures.
While agglomeration effects might protect many larger towns and cities from negative impacts of remote work, smaller towns and rural areas need to be strategic by maintaining and developing attractiveness to retain existing populations and to appeal to new residents, including remote workers. In the case of smaller towns and rural centres, these need to be compact, accessible and incorporate attractive features like a varied and relatively affordable housing supply, amenity rich cores, and close access to nature. This might also include measures enabling active mobility and ensuring quality digital infrastructure. Alternative and multi-functional uses of public space and real estate could be incorporated in urban planning to maintain attractiveness and increase adaptability. In rural areas, co-working spaces and other third spaces can play a crucial role in improving attractiveness and in facilitating the transfer of knowledge and ideas among remote workers.
With greater remote work flexibility for many employees since the pandemic, the international and Nordic-based research points to the importance of alternative working spaces outside the home or the traditional office. Co-working spaces, including government-initiated work centres, were more prominently discussed as key for rural areas. Additionally, public spaces, such as libraries, or private spaces like cafés, may enable remote work. How individual employees utilise these spaces depends heavily on the kind of work they conduct as well as their accessibility to such spaces. And how employees travel to such spaces also depends on the transport infrastructure and built environment. To support other social, economic, and environmental benefits, co-working spaces should be located in central, accessible areas of the municipality. This has been exemplified in some regions of Sweden and Iceland even before the pandemic, where dense co-working areas have provided remote workers spaces to collaborate, build social networks, and introduce new businesses. Providing good working conditions and meaningful work opportunities is also a way for smaller towns and rural areas to attract newcomers, in addition to high quality service provision.
The use of alternative spaces for working purposes also challenges existing divisions of land use and functional planning, pointing instead to the need to plan and analyse space according to multiple purposes and greater fluidity. Related to this, housing supply and housing layouts may also be influenced by larger shares of remote work in certain areas. Housing policy could aim to supply affordable living organised in ways that accommodate inhabitants spending more time at home or in their immediate neighbourhood.
Sustainability concerns in remote work policy
Remote work can be a tool for improving work-life balance, but it also has the potential to exacerbate existing inequalities. Policymakers must account for discrepancies across gender and socioeconomic status in future social and economic policies in order to ensure that remote work strategies benefit both those who can and cannot work remotely. For example, the benefits provided by 15-minute-city interventions need to be equally distributed throughout the city or town so as to avoid creating socially segregated neighbourhoods based on factors like income level or ability to work remotely. In rural areas, potential transportation disadvantages, especially of socioeconomic disadvantaged populations, need to be monitored and subject to follow-up policy. Various policies related to public service provision and housing also need to be considered in ways that provide an equitable balance for residents regardless of where they live or work. This is important with regards to digital infrastructure as well as mobility services—both for those who do and do not work remotely. It is always important to keep in mind that the majority of the population in the Nordic countries continue to work on site.
Providing necessary digital infrastructure is a question of equal accessibility as internet connectivity becomes an integral part of daily life and a determinant for equal opportunity. Researchers suggest providing work readiness programmes preparing people already living in rural areas for positions that can be done remotely. According to results from the Nordregio remote work project, while the private sector may play a role in things establishing co-working spaces or developing technologies that enable remote work, the public sector may need to initiate such services in rural municipalities.
A varied and to some extent affordable housing supply has the potential to create inclusive housing markets where households of different sizes, economic capacity and tastes may find housing attractive in relation to their life-situations. In both the international literature and the studies made by Nordregio, attractive housing was pointed out as a main argument for remote workers to stay in smaller settings or move there from cities. The research pointed to the importance of strategies towards achieving inclusive housing markets when creating attractive rural areas, towns and cities.
Remote work practices are part of the work-life balance in the Nordic countries. However, as various municipalities and regions in the Nordics continue to fight issues like climate change, pollution, social segregation, economic decline, and various inequalities, planners and policymakers have the opportunity to evaluate how remote work practices address or exacerbate such concerns. This report has shown various spatial implications of remote work, and these different themes have clear linkages to the goal for the Nordics to become the world’s most sustainable and integrated region. For example, how remote work affects and is affected by transportation or housing will impact goals towards carbon neutrality and social sustainability. However remote work on its own will not intrinsically contribute to the Nordic Vision, and strategies to guide the planning of our built environments and the behaviours within them are crucial for remote work to be a tool that supports the Nordic region’s sustainability goals.