Photo: Felix Gerlach / imagebank.sweden.se

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has changed how people live and work. Since 2021, Nordregio – a research institute for urban and regional development and planning in the Nordic Region – has studied the tools and policies used in Nordic countries to support remote work. The aim of this report is to put into dialogue the research results within Nordregio’s Remote work and multilocality post-pandemic project and the latest international literature exploring the spatial implications of remote work. In doing so, we gain a fuller understanding of how remote work can be integrated into urban and regional development, planning, and policymaking within the Nordic Region.

Previous Nordic-based reports within the project found that remote work practices lead to new residential preferences and mobility patterns based on hybrid work as the new normal for a share of the population. Remote work practices were also found to enable work force exchange among settlement areas. Some smaller towns and rural areas regard remote work opportunities as one of several ways to increase attractiveness. Despite these results, the work also found that there is a lack of available data and methods for studying the nuances of remote work, and there are some gaps in developing knowledge exchange and partnerships across levels of governance which Nordic policymakers can take advantage of to better understand the situation.

Within the international academic literature reviewed in this report, we identified six thematic areas in which remote work practices are making a spatial influence for urban, rural, and regional development. These include: (1) challenges and opportunities for transportation, (2) urban-rural linkages, (3) digital nomadism, co-working spaces, and third places, (4) attractive and affordable housing fit for work-live arrangements, (5) impacts on urban cores, and (6) polycentric cities and the 15-minute city ideal. In many instances, we see that the experiences in the Nordic Region align with the global discourse (on, for example, housing, transportation, and urban-rural linkages). Reports based in the Nordic countries both support and provide nuances to the themes given unique aspects of the geography, economy, and culture. At other times, there are gaps or differences in the Nordic perspectives and the global discourse. The report provides a discussion of planning and policy implications, categorised under three areas: transportation, the built environment, and sustainability. The report highlights several recommendations, such as to safeguard public transport, support investments in measures to boost small-town and rural attractiveness, encourage development according to work-live (mixed-use) designs and 15-minute city principles, promote a diverse and affordable housing supply, enable access to digital infrastructure, plan for residents who also do not have the possibility to work remotely, and reconsider research frameworks and data collection based on the unique spatial patterns of remote work.

As of 2024, the study of remote work habits and policy remains a moving target. More research is needed to understand potential long-term impacts. Both the international literature and the Nordic studies identified a gap in data availability and a need to develop theories and methods suitable for the unique practices of remote work. Further research may also consider how remote work plays a role in regional development policy (with a special focus on shrinking populations), the positive and negative impacts of remote work in Nordic cities and medium-sized towns, and mobility solutions for hybrid workers in the Nordic context, from both regional and local perspectives. Planners and policymakers stand at a unique moment, with opportunities to assess the effects of increased remote work and make decisions to facilitate remote work. However, they need consider how to guide these new practices through strategic planning and development to ensure that they align with larger sustainability goals.