LSN : News : 02 : 12 : 22

Climate-resilient homes for wellbeing in Tanzania

Star Homes by Ingvartsen architects. Photography by Julien Lanoo, Africa

Tanzania – Can more considered housing improve family health? It’s a question being answered by The Star Homes Project, which consists of 110 identical, single-family structures built throughout 60 villages in rural Mtwara, one of the more underdeveloped regions of the country.

‘To our knowledge, it is the first time that a new house has been used as a unit of randomisation in a clinical trial,’ say the global multidisciplinary team behind the project.

In development for over a decade, the project will explore ways to develop novel, low-cost, comfortable and insect-proof housing to enhance the health of people in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa – often with a high incidence of malaria, respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea. These houses form the basis of a trial, which aims to provide robust data to show whether improved housing can improve family health.

‘In the long term, we hope that elements of the [house’s] design, such as elevated screened bedrooms, will find broader uptake and integration in the millions of new houses required for the rapidly growing population of Africa.’

Uncover more insights about domestic design in our Home & Family Series while we delve into sustainable building in our Sustainability and Climate Crisis Series.

Strategic opportunity

Improving health via spatial design should be a universal goal yet this project highlights how even the simplest of innovations can have a massive impact on human wellness for some of the poorest on our planet.

FDA approves first lab-grown cultivated meat

US – Although the concept of lab-grown meat is not new, it has not made the jump into commercial availability in our grocery stores – until now. Berkeley, California-based Upside Foods has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its lab-grown meats are safe to eat.

‘This is a big moment for the future of food,’ says Upside COO Amy Chen, adding that the company plans to launch its lab-grown chicken first in restaurants. It is also developing other lab-foods including duck, beef, lobster and scallops.

Cultivated meat is getting closer to hitting our plates and with significant supply, cost and environmental challenges facing the food and drinks sector, as detailed in our Adaptive Appetites macrotrend, the tipping point for consumer acceptance could be approaching sooner rather than later.

Future Farm is creating plant-based protein that captures the taste and texture of real meat, Brazil

Strategic opportunity

The opportunities are initially in the restaurant sector, which will be the first to feature cultivated meats both as a novelty and as an introduction to the consumer palate, as we detail in our SavorEat profile

China’s outdoor sports industry to surpass £348bn

Particle Fever campaign, Shanghai

China – By 2025, the total size of the country’s outdoor sports industry is expected to surpass £348bn (Rmb3 trillion, $426bn, €406.6bn) – that’s according to a development plan recently released by the country's General Administration of Sport.

Huang Haidong, a senior researcher at Chinese fitness platform Keep, told China People’s Daily: ‘While growing stronger, we have also witnessed the meteoric rise of China's sports industry.’ Keep has seen its revenue increase from £35m (Rmb300m, $42.6m, €40.6m) to £93m (Rmb800m, $113.6m, €108m) in the past five years.

Outdoor sports, including camping, cycling and running, have become increasingly popular among Chinese people. Mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, canoeing and paragliding have also flourished – an array of sports that have brought with them new product ranges in the Chinese market. Now, these new Chinese outdoor sports enthusiasts are looking for more social interactions with their leisure pursuits, according to China People's Daily, with the country seeing an opportunity to promote natural resources, nurture enterprises to produce more specialist products and incorporate the sector into the digital world.

You can explore more global insights and opportunities in our Markets coverage.

Strategic opportunity

The number of people participating in outdoor sports in China exceeded 400m by the end of 2021, according to China People’s Daily, so look to the opportunities for brands and businesses across multiple sectors in this area of growth