Networks and cities' news

Destination branding for the future of work

This entry is part of the Remote-IT Playbook series, developed within the URBACT Remote-IT Action Planning Network (Entry 2 of 22).

Remote work is reshaping how people choose where to live, not just where to work. For European cities, this shift is opening a new field of competition and collaboration: becoming attractive places for people whose jobs are no longer tied to a local employer. Destination branding is no longer just a tourism tool; it is becoming a strategic instrument for talent attraction, demographic renewal and economic resilience.

Here we examine how can cities position themselves as destinations for remote workers and digital nomads, drawing on European data and international research, as well as lessons from the eight cities of the Remote-IT URBACT network: Dubrovnik, Brindisi, Bucharest District 6, Câmara de Lobos, Heraklion, Murcia, Tartu and Tirana.

Remote-IT Quarterly Report #6

Preparing cities for new ways of working - insights from the Remote-IT network

When the Remote-IT URBACT Action Planning Network started its work in 2023, the eight partner cities shared a common intuition- that remote and hybrid work were not a temporary legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a structural shift reshaping labour markets, mobility patterns, tourism, public administration, and urban life. What they did not yet have was a clear understanding of what this shift meant at city level, what their specific role should be, or how to respond in a way that was strategic rather than reactive.

Remote-IT was created to fill that gap. Over two years, the network enabled cities to move from fragmented experimentation and abstract debates to concrete strategies, tested actions, and integrated plans for the future of work. The result is not only eight Integrated Action Plans, but a shared body of knowledge, tools, and lessons that are now available to other cities through the Remote-IT Digital Playbook.

Remote-IT Final Product: A Digital Playbook Capturing Our Network Journey

This entry presents the Remote-IT Network Final Product, available below as a hyperlink in the form of digital roadmap.

10 recommendations from the Remote-IT network

This entry is part of the Remote-IT Playbook series, developed within the URBACT Remote-IT Action Planning Network (Entry 22 of 22).

Remote-IT - Building cities for the future of work

This entry is part of the Remote-IT Playbook series, developed within the URBACT Remote-IT Action Planning Network (Entry 21 of 22).