Associate lecturer from the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at UIC Barcelona, Dr Jasmina Berbegal, undertook a three-month research stay in the UCL School of Management in London at University College, London, located in the One Canada Square building.  

The business school is located right in the centre of one of the most important financial districts in England:  Canary Wharf. The place where one of the largest ports in Europe was located in the 18th century is now a base for large multinational companies and banks such as Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, EY, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Morgan Stanley and Thomson Reuters.

This project is part of a line of research on innovative ecosystems which Dr Berbegal is working on, alongside other professors and lecturers from the University of California Berkeley (USA), Stanford University (USA) and King’s College London (United Kingdom).

The purpose of her visit was to work on a project in which the impact of co-working was analysed based on economic development in cities: the revitalisation of urban spaces, the creation of new industries and interaction between different economic agents. 

Co-working spaces are shared places of work where professionals from different sectors exchange knowledge, thus promoting cooperation and adding value and connections.  In 2022 it is predicted that five million people will be working in this type of context in more than 30.400 spaces around the world. It represents a change in ways of working and interacting to respond to the demands of a world that is becoming more and more global, hyper-connected and dynamic.