Ideas for Cities: Decentralized Design Hubs and Work Centers

Decentralized Design Hubs and Work Centers
Neighborhoods could function as local “offices” by creating workplaces for citizens. Employers would therefore support and encourage employees to work in these hubs rather than driving or commuting to an employer-owned workspace. The employer instead “subscribes” to the pool of design hubs or work centers to enable employees to work there, much like a fitness studio membership. There are larger spaces for company and team meetings on occasion (weekly or monthly). There is also training for effective distributed working.

This is part 13 of a continuing brainstorm on the future of cities, inaugurated at the Velocity conference in September 2009. We’ll post a new idea each day until we run out, at which point we’re counting on you to come up with something smart. Do you have a good idea for improving your city? Add it in the comments below, or tweet it to @GOOD with hashtag #cityideas—we’ll publish the best ones. Tomorrow’s idea: Talent Districts.