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Ikea Australia has has 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 years.
Only a third of Aussies (32 per cent) believe we will be ready for new living scenarios an increased population would create.
Meanwhile, 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.
Key findings span population, timing and communities.
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
Ikea Australia sustainability manager Kate Ringvall said the insights are crucial towards building a long-term future plan.
“There’s a very real chance that as a society, we may not be that realistic with our vision of the future of our society.
“A population growth of this magnitude will most likely result in the rise of new cities, as housing developers begin to build upwards to make the most out of the space available.
“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.
“Australians need to be open-minded about out sustainable future. As our cities become denser, this presents an enormous opportunity to actively create the cities we want, as opposed to inheriting the legacies of previous generations.”