Coworking is easy to measure when you look at the physical product. How many desks are occupied? How much revenue does a location generate? What is the average membership length? How many meeting rooms are booked?
Those figures matter, but they do not tell the whole story.
A growing body of research suggests that some of the most valuable outcomes created by coworking spaces take place between the numbers: introductions between entrepreneurs, informal advice over coffee, referrals to potential clients, new partnerships and knowledge shared between people who might otherwise never have met.
This is social capital, the value created through trusted relationships and professional networks. And as hybrid and remote working reduce the number of spontaneous workplace interactions, it could become one of the most important competitive advantages of coworking.
Recent research highlighted by Allwork.Space argues that the economic contribution of coworking therefore extends beyond occupancy and membership revenue. Spaces can support innovation, skills development and economic activity by creating an environment in which useful relationships emerge.
A desk is only the starting point
For years, the flexible-office sector has understandably emphasised convenience. Businesses can avoid long leases. Entrepreneurs receive professional facilities without setting up an office themselves. Remote workers gain somewhere productive to work outside the home. All of those benefits remain relevant. But they are increasingly becoming basic expectations rather than genuine differentiators.
Fast Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, good coffee and attractive furniture can be replicated. A strong network is much harder to copy.
The important distinction is that putting dozens of professionals in one building does not automatically create that network. Research into coworking repeatedly finds that physical proximity alone is insufficient. Relationships become valuable when members develop trust, exchange information and feel comfortable asking one another for advice or introductions.
That changes the role of the coworking operator. Instead of simply managing real estate, the operator becomes a facilitator of connections.
Why community management has economic value
Community managers are sometimes viewed as part of the hospitality side of coworking: welcoming members, organising events and making sure everything runs smoothly. Their commercial contribution can go much further.
Imagine two companies occupying offices on different floors. One needs help with digital marketing; the other happens to run a specialist marketing agency. A community manager who understands both businesses can make an introduction. No additional square metres have been created. No extra desk has been sold. Yet the workspace has created value for both members. Multiply those encounters across hundreds of people and an interesting network effect starts to emerge.
Academic research into coworking spaces has linked community management and interaction with both bonding social capital, stronger relationships between people and bridging social capital, which gives people access to new networks, knowledge and opportunities. Research has also associated these connections with performance benefits for entrepreneurs.
This means events should not necessarily be judged by attendance alone. Ten well-matched members forming useful relationships may ultimately create more value than 100 people briefly attending a generic networking evening.
For operators, the strategic question becomes: how effectively does our space help members meet the right people?
Coworking can strengthen the local business ecosystem
The impact can extend beyond individual members. Recent research on coworking in smaller cities and rural regions suggests that these spaces can connect entrepreneurs with local networks, encourage knowledge sharing and help integrate businesses into the surrounding economy. One 2026 study of rural coworking spaces in Austria found that they helped professionals build local connections and could link regional communities with wider urban networks.
That gives coworking an interesting role in local economic development. A good flexible workspace can generate footfall for neighbouring cafés and services. More importantly, it can create a physical meeting point for freelancers, SMEs, remote employees and growing businesses that would otherwise operate independently.
Knowledge begins to circulate. A founder hears about a funding programme. A freelancer meets a new customer. An SME discovers a local supplier. An experienced entrepreneur gives informal advice to someone launching a business. Individually, these interactions appear small. Collectively, they can strengthen an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Research into regional development has consequently argued that coworking spaces may contribute not only physical infrastructure, but also human, social and institutional capital within their regions.
The industry now needs better ways to measure it
There is one obvious problem: social capital does not fit neatly into a property spreadsheet. Operators know their occupancy rate. They can track meeting-room bookings and recurring revenue. Measuring how many business opportunities originated from a conversation in a shared kitchen is considerably harder. That does not mean operators should ignore it.
Instead, coworking businesses could begin tracking indicators such as member-to-member referrals, collaborations, introductions facilitated by community teams, event-generated leads and the percentage of members reporting that they have gained business opportunities through the workspace.
Member surveys could ask a simple question: Has being part of this workspace helped your company make a valuable professional connection during the past six months?
Over time, those answers can turn an intangible benefit into a meaningful performance indicator. This could also sharpen the commercial positioning of coworking itself.
Selling “a desk with Wi-Fi” creates a comparison based largely on price and location. Selling access to a productive business ecosystem creates a very different proposition.
The future of coworking is partly invisible
The most valuable feature of tomorrow’s coworking space may not appear on the floor plan. It could be the entrepreneur sitting two desks away, the specialist recommended by a community manager or the five-minute conversation that eventually becomes a new contract. That does not diminish the importance of great buildings. Location, design, acoustics, technology and hospitality remain fundamental. But as flexible workspace becomes more mature and competitive, physical amenities alone will become harder to differentiate.
Relationships can become the differentiator.
For coworking operators, that means investing in community should not be treated as an optional extra. Done well, it is part of the economic infrastructure of the workspace itself.
And for companies choosing a flexible office, it may be worth asking a different question. Instead of only asking “What facilities do we get?”, ask “Who will we be connected to when we work here?”
That answer may ultimately be worth far more than the desk.
