Key Highlights & Conclusions

– Remote work as an established practice: Remote and hybrid working are widely accepted and highly valued, offering greater autonomy, flexibility and control over everyday routines.

– Improved wellbeing and quality of life: Reduced commuting saves time and money, decreases fatigue and enables workers to better balance professional, personal and social activities.

– Stronger connections with local communities: Remote work encourages greater use of neighbourhood services, participation in community activities and engagement with local environments.

– Flexibility requires clear organisational rules: Remote work is beneficial when supported by predictable arrangements, fair implementation, adequate equipment and management practices focused on results rather than physical presence.

– Gender and caregiving shape experiences: Women more frequently emphasise work-family coordination, while men tend to highlight autonomy and productivity, reflecting existing social roles and unequal caring responsibilities.

– Unequal access to remote work: Job characteristics determine who can benefit from flexible arrangements, with public-facing and emergency roles facing greater limitations.

– Different organisational approaches: Milan’s public sector offers stronger institutional protections and more standardised arrangements, while Bologna’s private sector provides greater room for individual negotiation but less consistent safeguards.

– New opportunities for rural and inner areas: Remote work can make smaller towns and rural territories more attractive by allowing professionals to prioritise quality of life, environmental conditions and social relationships over proximity to employment centres.

– Coworking as a driver of territorial revitalisation: Coworking spaces can attract qualified professionals, facilitate knowledge exchange, strengthen social integration and support local economic development.

– Housing and working conditions matter: Adequate home workspaces, ergonomic equipment and clear boundaries are essential for sustainable remote work. Poor conditions and expectations of constant availability increase stress and overload.

Main takeaway:

Remote and hybrid work can improve wellbeing, strengthen local communities and support territorial rebalancing between urban and rural areas. However, their long-term benefits depend on fair access, adequate working conditions and organisational policies that protect employees while accommodating different needs.

Post-pandemic remote workers in highly industrialized regions.

The lockdowns and social distancing resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic rapidly altered habits and lifestyles of global citizens. In particular, the uptake of remote working caused workers to revalue working close to home and the time spent commuting, with semi-peripheral and peripheral neighbourhoods achieving a renewed role in attracting remote workers. 

In this context, the research focuses on changes in forms of remote working taking place in Bologna (second-tier city) and surrounding metropolitan rural areas. Specifically, the case study focuses on the “SmartBo network”, launched in October 2019, through an agreement between Comune di Bologna (Municipality of Bologna), Città Metropolitana di Bologna (Metropolitan City of Bologna) and approximately thirty public and private organisations of the area. At the basis of this initiative there is the belief that remote working as a “new way of working” can contribute to a profound transformation of the world of work and to the sustainable development of Bologna and its surrounding rural areas.