I find Megatrends to be a valuable guide for exploring disruption or opportunity for organisations. And while there are a lot of megatrend lists out there, one topic that is almost universally agreed is “Rapid Urbanisation”.
IKEAs Space 10 Future Lab explores the future of Shared Living as a solution to many of the potential problems of more crowded cities with it’s second edition of Imagine.
Over 160 pages, Imagine shares opinions on the social context and solutions for the future. There are also some great examples cited that are happening today. A couple I liked were:
- Humanitas (Netherlands) – essentially a home for the elderly where students are asked to volunteer for 30 hours a month in exchange for accommodation. It’s much more than a work for rent scheme, it’s a different way of living that benefits the elderly residents and the students.
- WeLive (US) – from WeWork, the shared office space disrupters, WeLive is community oriented living. Currently in New York and Washington DC, WeLive builds community within it’s living spaces flexible space usage such as laundry’s that turn into bars, event spaces and community kitchens.
What was most interesting for me as I read Imagine, were the questions it raised about how much further the sharing economy can develop and the overall concept of ownership. What we are prepared to share and what do we need to own? Off the top of my head I can immediately think about sharing luggage, crockery, kitchens, vacuum cleaners, tools etc. Of course the answer to this question should encourage people from many industries to rethink business models or provide opportunity for potential for disruptors.
P.s. while researching this topic I found https://shareyourpet.co.uk/
Future Centric 