2018 | Housing Sharing Economy

Category: Academic housing

Industry: Housing

Location: Global

Related to: Public space / Housing / Transportation / Infrastructure / Social Housing

Reviewer: Logan Kurtz Larkin / BFA Parsons School of Design

About:

As a student at Parsons School of Design who is studying Fine Arts and constantly looking for a creative workspace that is affordable and convenient, there are a lot of new design developments that someone like myself has to consider while looking into shared and academic housing opportunities.

In an attempt to democratize the housing and living economy along with transportation, particularly in New York City, small social startups and large commercial brands have tried their luck at advocating for the low-income post-college and current student populations. With tough competition for living space and jobs, due to mass domestic and international migration, companies are trying to provide solutions by monetizing needs that were previously not marketable to the consumer. The aim of these brands is to avoid mass poverty amongst the up and coming generations and maintain a space for collaboration and innovation in an increasingly occupied urban environment.

In addition to companies that provide productive affordable housing are also initiatives that design easily replicable and deployable structural solutions. One project that I have been involved in is the Resilient Modular System (RMS), that focuses on emerging markets and open source data to create hybridized solutions for the building industry. Using a simple file, I have been able to 3D print several RMS bricks that in time will go towards creating an inhabitable structure.

The sharing economy is expected to boom in the following years, and startups are taking this opportunity to provide for communities that are searching for cost-effective and reliable lifestyle elements. Find out more by checking out the reports below:

1.

The sharing economy is estimated to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025. This estimate is based on the rapid growth of Uber and Airbnb as indicative.

More information shared on an online platform can lead to greater trust between users, but it can also lead to racial and gender bias. Sharing economy companies must work to combat bias on their platforms, both in their algorithms and their users. Removing some identifying information from profiles lowers risk of bias.

It is difficult for any one company to form a monopoly since the cost for customers to switch between sharing economy services is quite low.

2.

The open source software campaigns of the 21st century often appealed to the democratization of information, noting that by opening up and engaging hundreds of thousands of programmers and users worldwide the process of innovation was put on fast forward.

Sharing can be explained economically as being a means to assemble sufficient resources in a way that is cheaper, more efficient, scalable or sustainable. 

3.

The sharing concept has created markets out of things that wouldn’t have been considered monetizable assets before. A few dozen square feet in a driveway can now produce income via Parking Panda. A pooch-friendly room in your house is suddenly a pet penthouse via DogVacay.

4.

Companies like Open Door and WeLive, a subsidiary of coworking giant WeWork, have evolved the hacker-house concept into all-inclusive experiences that come with lots of perks. Residents, or “members,” as they’re often called, can join these communities and instantly tap into amenities like free internet, maid service, and new friends.

While some critics see co-living as a fringe “dorms for grown-ups” trend, the entrepreneurs behind these startups want to make co-living a major category in the real-estate market.

Common, a co-living startup, received almost 10,000 applications to fill its nine residences across three major US cities in 2016.

Standish, a former web designer, and his co-founder, Ben Provan, a former mechanical engineer, launched Open Door because they wanted to create spaces that brought together a wide variety of urban dwellers under one roof. In Standish’s vision, the spaces wouldn’t be centered on building the next Facebook but on forming authentic communities.

1.

Yaraghi, Niam, and Shamika Ravi. “The Current and Future State of the Sharing Economy.” Brookings. September 29, 2017. Accessed January 25, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-current-and-future-state-of-the-sharing-economy

2.

Smeed, Mark. “Impact of the Sharing Economy”. Accessed January 25, 2018. http://www.iicom.org/themes/item/impact-of-the-sharing-economy-2

3.

Geron, Tomio. “Airbnb And The Unstoppable Rise Of The Share Economy.” Forbes. June 20, 2016. Accessed January 25, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/01/23/airbnb-and-the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-share-economy/#5c71a940aae3.

4.

Robinson, Melia. “Millennials are paying thousands of dollars a month for maid service and instant friends in modern ‘hacker houses’.” March 18, 2017. Accessed January 26, 2018. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-co-living-2017-2