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Five pointers for future-orientated design
1. Networked society
Networks are seen as a technological
phenomenon, but the reality is that their use
and spread has been driven by the fundamental
value changes that have made society almost
unrecognisable from how we lived in the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s. As described eloquently by
Professor Manuel Castells in the Networked
Society, it is based on the conception that ‘the
individual’ has become the basic unit of society
and that each of us create our family, social and
economic structures through networking with
others. These structures are dependent on the
ability of individuals to come together and
associate, entailing some active participation
and involvement, whatever the platform, real
or virtual.
But all social interactions are becoming less
hierarchical, less prescribed and more engaged at
a peer-to-peer level, resulting in what is known as
the Personalisation of Authority. To explain, we are
four times more likely to believe a member of our
family or a friend than any politician or journalist
about a range of social and environmental issues.
This shift is finding expression in our daily lives
whether in the way we make purchase decisions,
the content and tone of the media, and of course,
in the bricks and mortar which make our homes.
Implication 1: It used to be the dining room
for gathering the family and the church for
society. But the Networked Society places greater
emphasis on more relaxed and informal meeting
spaces facilitating increased entertaining, such
as open-plan living-dining at home and more
accessible spaces such as community centres,
cafés, playgrounds and picnic places for the
community. To which, of course, we need to
supplement ready access to networking
technologies both at home and wherever
else we spend time.
2. Culture of change
Along with greater longevity comes the
Culture of Change. This identifies that higher
participation rates in tertiary education and
soaring house prices are delaying full adulthood.
Variously called ‘kidulthood’ or the ‘long family’
to capture the extension of adolescence among
young adults (25% of 30-year-old men are living
with their parents), this is a significant trend with
implications for the design for homes. But there
is also key evidence that despite the slower start
these days, once we have embarked on the
excitement of relationships, jobs and home
ownership, we are far more likely to change these
frequently and reinvent ourselves. Divorce and
separation still carry the pain but not the stigma,
and it is no longer only US citizens who have
second, third and fourth marriages or children
with multiple partners.
Thus we can predict an accelerating curve of ‘life
changes’ through the course of a longer lifespan -
changes that will bring an ever increasing group
of people needing for more flexible use of space
in homes as reconstituted and step families come
together in new, often part-time ways. Already,
more than one in 10 families with dependent
children is a step-family. Longitudinal research
shows that three-fifths of divorced adults will
“repartner” within five years.
Family instability and the need for greater flexibility
is also creating a new role for young-at-heart and
fitter grandparents to buttress child-caring needs
and participate in the wider family group. Despite
concerns about family fragmentation and potential
isolation, intergenerational ties remain strong and
the ability to accommodate visiting relatives and
supportive friends is key.
Implication 2: ‘Reconstituted’ family gatherings
require more communal entertainment space
because there are typically more people. But at the
same time the ability to create more private
bedroom space for visiting children/step children
will be at a premium. Rising house prices and
moving costs will make more flexible internal
layouts which facilitate “the culture of change”
more valuable and desirable. Modular extensions
to the home should also be considered as a route
to providing additional accommodation.
3. Return to the native
Most of England lives in cities, towns or suburbs.
The policy to build more new homes within urban
boundaries is only likely to make this increase.
Paradoxically, it seems that the concept of being
close to nature has never been more powerful.
More than half of us ‘feel the need to be closer to
the country and rural life’ and nine out of 10 people
want to be close to nature. Dubbed ‘symbolic
rurality’ by rural sociologists, this suggests that
we carry around an image of idyllic countryside
in our heads that we want to connect with, even
if we have chosen to live in the city for its amenity.
This yearning is reflected in ‘factual entertainment’
programmes in which families move to the country.
Or the participation in mass twitching with Bill
Oddie or cooking woodland animals with Hugh
Fearnley-Wittingstall. Tesco’s battle to purchase a
major chain of garden suppliers is testimony to the
power of ‘green’ not just as environmental concept,
but as something we all want in our day-to-day
lives. It speaks also of a counterbalance to the
world of choice, a return to the authenticity of the
natural world to reconnect with the essential.
Implication 3: This trend highlights why everyone
will value ready access to safe green space for
children’s play, relaxation and reconnecting with
nature; any opportunity to benefit from the
attraction of ‘real’ nature through well planned
windows or access to fresh air should be prioritised.
Increased value is put on private outside space
suitable for growing plants, as well as indoor
spaces for cultivation, especially when integrated
into the kitchen such as for growing herbs.
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