More than half of the world's population lives in cities today, and the urban population is only expected to grow. In order to cope with overcrowding, resource exploitation, and the growing need for infrastructure, our urban environment is going to change beyond recognition. How? Take a look at the key trends that will affect the living environment of the future:
Internet of Things: Smart Homes and Smart Cities
Say, did you turn off the air conditioner after you left the house? In the past, this annoying thought could accompany us throughout the day, but today, 'Internet of Things' (IoT) technologies make our lives much easier. Did we forget the boiler was on? We can go into the app on our phone and turn it off, turn on the air conditioner fifteen minutes before we arrive, and even take the robotic vacuum cleaner for a spin around the house while we're at work.
In the future, our beds will change their shape according to our sleeping habits, the refrigerator will alert us when the milk has gone bad, and the wardrobe will refresh our clothes from time to time. In the urban space, IoT technologies are already influencing the lives of city residents around the world: whether through smart systems for monitoring garbage and controlling traffic, or even through noise detectors for detecting shooting incidents. The field of smart cities is still in its infancy, but it seems that the day is not far off when we will all be able to enjoy a smart urban environment that will give its residents a good sense of security and provide them with advanced urban services.
The futuristic version of the kibbutz
It is not only the technologies themselves that will shape the future living environment, but also new economic concepts. Uber, WeWork, and Airbnb are all examples of the implementation of a new economic field that the 21st century brought us – the sharing economy: an economic system based on the community sharing of existing resources such as a service, product, or even property.
Indeed, it seems that the next step in the collaborative economy is in the field of real estate: instead of living in an apartment where the living room is empty most of the day, the yard is deserted, and the washing machine only runs a few hours a week, the Co-Living method allows you to make better use of existing resources. Such residences include, on the one hand, a private space with areas such as bedrooms and bathrooms, and, on the other hand, spaces shared with other residents, such as a guest room, laundry room, or yard. These spaces are built so that they can meet the needs of all residents. Besides the economic advantage, Co-Living allows us in the alienated age of screens to return to and maintain a better community life.
Everything in one place
And if you think smart homes and shared housing make life more convenient, wait until you read what awaits you when you leave home. 'Mixed-use' is an old-new term that means utilizing land for a variety of uses such as residential, commercial, and office.
Sounds logical, doesn't it? This is how people lived for many years until the overcrowding in cities and the advent of private vehicles slowly moved populations away from the cities towards the suburbs and the separation of different uses into areas such as industrial areas, employment areas, commercial areas and residential areas began. But in recent years, the opposite trend has occurred, with traffic congestion and the air pollution that accompanies it turning the dream of a small house in the suburbs into a nightmare for many people. Now, new complexes that centralize residence, employment and recreation are becoming increasingly sought after.
And what will we do when we run out of space on Earth?
The world's growing population and the problem of overcrowding have ignited the imagination of architects and city planners, and plans that seemed like they came out of a science fiction movie are becoming reality, or rather concrete and pillars. According to forecasts, in just three years, the first floating city will be launched in the Pacific Ocean, which will include hundreds of homes, businesses and entertainment venues.
Alongside ideas like these, a more compact solution to the problem of overcrowding has emerged in recent years – in a sustainable independent unit or as part of a collection of hundreds of units built side by side and on top of each other inside a skyscraper – capsule buildings will offer future residents a living space that spans a square meter or two, offering the resident a solution to all their needs. Incidentally, this is also an old-new idea, as the world's first capsule tower was built in Japan as early as 1972. Some people think that the real solution lies in space. As fanciful as it sounds, a lunar colony is an integral part of NASA's vision for space exploration.
In any case, it seems that there is no need to start looking for real estate opportunities on the moon for now, and capsules, shared housing, and even smart cities will take some time to affect our lifestyles. However, it is very worthwhile to start looking at the area from a consumer perspective. New residential complexes that combine new uses, green construction, and the use of advanced technologies can be quite a real estate opportunity.
