URBAN
LIVING ROOMS
market overview
01
Since the 1960s, the proportion of
one-person households has more than
doubled in many European countries
and in Australia, Canada, China, Japan,
South Korea and the US. As reported by
independent consulting demographer
Joseph Chamie for Inter Press Service,
such households ‘generally face more
difficulties when dealing with... social
isolation and loneliness’.02
While different cultures interpret the
idea of spaciousness differently, square
metres in desirable cities are at an
even bigger premium as residents
flock to urban centres. In a 2013 article
entitled ‘Sustainable Communities?
A Comparative Perspective on Urban
Housing in the European Union’, Nessa
Winston reported that one-third of
households were dissatisfied with the
amount of space in their home.03
A rise in urban living means a drop in
rural populations. In a 2017 article for
Metropolitics, for example, Sophie
Buhnik writes that although ‘it is
expected that Tokyo’s city region mightmaintain slight growth until 2030 at least
through positive net migration rates –
both domestic and international – the
rest of Japan is set to shrink, especially
peripheral regions, where the number of
inhabitants could fall by half ’. Perhaps
rural areas will adopt their own form of
community living rooms in response.04
According to 2019 Pew Research Center
analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics
data, Americans aged 60 and over are
alone for more than half of their waking
hours. At the time of data collection, the
demographic accounted for 22 per cent
of the US population, a figure predicted
to rise to 26 per cent by 2030.05
As published on Statista, the number of
adults using sharing economy services in
the US in 2016 (44.8 million) is expected
to almost double by 2021. Urban living
rooms are able to tap into this market by
offering bookable spaces for activities
outside of a resident’s daily routine,
such as birthday parties or other social
gatherings.The Granville in London became a
centre for gathering donations and
providing free meals for those affected
by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.128 Spaces