With regard to the issue of rationalization of public spaces, the example is implemented by the UK State is the most representative.
Before the beginning of the millennium, UK central Government didn't focus on how accommodation should be managed. But according to
White (2011), two reports "
Measuring Performance in the Management of Local Authority Property: A Research Report" (1999) and "
Hot Property: Getting the Best from Local Authority Assets" (2000) emphasized that real estate should be a means of more efficiently delivering services to users and that a more strategic focus was required in the management of real estate portfolios.
The first projects, about pro-active real estate management, were to office use resulted in more focus on how much accommodation was being used by central government; the Gershon Report (2004), which recommended cost reduction programs, estimating a save £20 billion after four years. The UK Government and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) developed asset management templates to be used by government departments in preparing their own asset plans.
According to the report "Improving Asset Management in the Central Civil Estate" (2006):
"the savings in central government real estate costs of over £150 million were possible with additional efficiency savings of up to £380 million per annum from flexible workplace and workstyle strategies".
At the same time, the report “A Route-map to Asset Management Excellence” suggested several recommendations such as clear asset management responsibilities within departments, the use of performance metrics to track progress and efficiency in accommodation use with the disposal of surplus space and the adoption of space saving workplace strategies.
According to Deloitte in “Office politics. Improving public sector property management” - a real estate study of UK public - the application of this strategy has saved £190 million in UK government. This public real estate strategy is to strengthen management capability across their corporate and operational estate, centralizing finance and administration functions.
According to the report “Government’s Estate Strategy” by Cabinet Office" (2014) the project involves several actions including: to remove boundaries between departments, local authorities and other public bodies, to minimise need of office space, efficient use of existing resources, to get rid of surplus in a way that maximises receipts and boosts growth and creates new homes. From 2010 to 2014 departments have shrunk the central Government estate by over two million square metres.
“[...] That reduction has saved us £600 million a year in running costs and has brought in a cumulative £1.4 billion (since May 2010) from the sale of a wide variety of land and buildings, not just offices”.
Which properties for which strategies