Settlers, vagrants and mutual indifference: unintended consequences of hot-desking

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a sociological analysis of emergent sociospatial structures in a hot-desking office environment, where space is used exchangeably. It considers hot-desking as part of broader societal shifts in the ownership of space. This analysis is based on an ethnographically-oriented investigation, in which data collection methods used were participant-observation and interviewing. The analysis uses Lefebvre's conceptualisation of the social production of space and draws on the urban sociology literature.