*Article* **Digitization as a Driver fur Rural Development—An Indicative Description of German Coworking Space Users**

**Marco Hölzel \* and Walter Timo de Vries**

Chair of Land Management, Department of Aerospace and Geodesy, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Arcisstr. 21, 80333 Munich, Germany; wt.de-vries@tum.de

**\*** Correspondence: marco.hoelzel@tum.de; Tel.: +49-89- 289-22565

**Abstract:** Background: The urban-rural land divide is visible through where people choose to work. This article aims to detect how, where and why people use rural coworking spaces instead of or in addition to working in urban areas. Methods: The research relied on both documented evidence and a structured survey among users of coworking spaces. Results: We found that the choice of working in rural coworking spaces draws on certain benefits and opportunities for its users, such as avoiding social isolation, separating private and professional life, reducing the commuting. An additional benefit for rural towns and villages is that the presence of a coworking space can make the location more vital, lively and attractive. Conclusions (and recommendations): Coworking space could partially bridge the urban-rural land divide. However, understanding this requires more insights in the behavior of rural coworking space users. Further research could look into modelling cause-effect relations and predicting coworking user behavior and the effect on their environment.

**Keywords:** rural development; rural land use; remote work; coworking spaces; digitization; urbanrural divide; town center revitalization
