Advertorial for IWG
If COVID taught us anything, it’s that we really don’t like commuting. Adapting to working from home five days a week had its challenges, but not many people missed sitting in traffic or standing on a crowded train for a couple of hours a day.
The idea of relocalising cities — turning them into collections of villages — has been around for a while. But when Sorbonne professor Carlos Moreno coined the term “15-minute city” back in 2016, it started to get more attention.
The concept of a city in which work, play and most of life’s necessities are within 15 minutes of home on foot or by bicycle gained traction during the pandemic, and, today, cities around the world, including London, Milan and Paris, are embracing the idea.
“In Paris we all feel we have no time, we are always rushing to one place or another, always trying to gain time,” said the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo during her 2020 election campaign, centred around the idea of la ville du quart d’heure. “That is why I am convinced we need to transform the city so Parisians can learn, do sports, have healthcare, shop, within 15 minutes of their home.”
Could Brisbane follow suit?
Damien Sheehan, country head, Australia, for global workspace network IWG, believes it is in a great position to do so.
“It is certainly further ahead than the larger cities of Melbourne and Sydney,” he says. “With the current and planned investment in transport and infrastructure across Brisbane the future looks very bright in this becoming a genuine reality.”
Flexible workspaces the key
An essential part of a 15-minute city is having plenty of flexible workspaces close to home. And the supply of these in the Queensland capital is good and growing, Sheehan says.
“There are many operators, locations, and varying options of product quality and price on offer in Brisbane. IWG is the most prominent operator, currently providing four locations across its Regus and Spaces brands.”
IWG, whose white paper The 15-Minute Commute looks at how COVID might ultimately have brought about the end of the long commute, gives businesses the option to pay for space by the day, month, quarter or year. And access is almost instant: once an individual or company has decided on their location, they can be in there and working the next day, making use of everything from meeting rooms and breakout areas to secretarial and food services.
By employing a hub-and-spoke model, larger businesses can give workers the option of working in the central office or a satellite office closer to home. This can help businesses not only attract the best talent, but save money, Sheehan says, which is a key consideration as the normalisation of hybrid work causes corporates to reassess how they approach real estate.
“Traditionally it has been a source, sign and forget approach on 10-year conventional terms with 3-4 per cent indexation each and every year,” he says. “To do this now, with less and less of the total workforce being in the office every day is simply a waste of money,” he says.
“The [central] office certainly has a place but will be used more for collaboration and building and reinforcing a company’s culture. The move to subscription or on-demand procurement of real estate continues to grow.”
Hybrid the hot ticket
Hybrid work was already a growing trend before the pandemic, as digitalisation made remote work more feasible. Thanks to the turbo-boost of lockdowns, it has quickly become the norm.
Flexible office spaces offer multiple benefits, Sheehan says, for businesses (better risk management, lower costs, better talent engagement and the ability to scale up and down quickly), and for individuals (who save time and money by not commuting, are more productive, more engaged and get more time with their families). IWG, for one, offers everything from meeting rooms (available to book via the app) to printing and IT support services. Brisbane locals have their pick of three coworking spaces — Ann Street, Jubilee Place Fortitude Valley and Riparian Plaza — alongside 3500 locations in 120 countries worldwide.
It’s also a win for the environment, with a reduction in carbon emissions due to less travel, and less wasted energy use in large, half-empty offices.
Flexible workspaces also provide opportunities, Sheehan says. “A benefit that is often overlooked is the networking and social opportunities within the flexible centres. To be surrounded by dozens of other companies in the same location, and to be able to co-exist and build relations in a relaxed and engaging environment, has fostered many a deal between members.”
This fits in nicely with the idea of a 15-minute city being a place that boosts community connections, as we work, eat, shop, play and get an education close to home.