IKEA Australia in August released its ‘People & Planet Positive Report 2017,’ revealing what the community of tomorrow could look like in response to Australia’s population set to grow to over 70 million in the next hundred years¹.

With only a third of Aussies (32 per cent) believing we will be ready for new living scenarios an increased population would create, reportedly over half of Australians (51 per cent) don’t see these changes happening within our lifetime – despite our population expected to almost double in the next half century. 

The report suggests that the community of the future will focus on ‘co-living’ – shared living spaces and ownership, as the enlarged population prompts an increase in high-rise housing and mass migration from rural areas to cities – some of which don’t even exist yet. 

Key findings revealed in the report, include:

On the increased population and urbanisation:

• 68 per cent of Australians believe we are not prepared for an increased population
• 43 per cent of Australians still believe in the dream of suburban living down under
• 56 per cent of Australians believe co-living communities won’t work locally
• 63 per cent believe there will always be room for growing crops or raising livestock in Australia
• Australians consider affordable housing and sustainable living as the most important factors in creating a sustainable community of the future

On timing:

• 59 per cent of Australians do not envisage significant changes to the proposed housing conditions will occur within their lifetime, with 89 per cent believing a shared living scenario is 20+ years away

On a co-living community:

• A quarter of Aussies (25 per cent) would be open to sharing their living room and laundry
• 57 per cent would be willing to share a garden, whilst almost two thirds of Australians (65 per cent) would be open to sharing homegrown fresh produce
• 25 per cent are open to sharing cooking with others in the community

It’s likely that as we embrace this high-rise, co-living lifestyle, our home furnishing choices will be focused towards easy to use, convenient and multi-purpose products designed for compact living and that facilitate shared living.

The full IKEA Australia People & Planet Positive Report 2017 can be found here: www.ikea.com.au/ppp_report.

¹ ABS, Population Projections, Australia, 2012 (base) to 2101. Source: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3222.0main+features52012%20(base)%20to%202101