Need to Know
17 : 10 : 22

Norway – Part of the Oslo Architecture Triennale (from 22 September 2022), Multispecies Neighbourhoods is an installation showing a community living in symbiosis with nature.

Designed by Atelier Dalziel, the prototype is made of large straw and clay spherical structures conceptualising a food forest. Visitors can explore the installation and peek at the 30 edible plants growing inside the spheres such as blueberries, sea buckthorn and thyme.

The project aims to show how urban neighbourhoods can bolster biodiversity by using urban architecture and agriculture to interlink humans with nature. ‘We can create human landscapes which become hugely beneficial to other species as well. It's gaining momentum as a discussion point for real viable alternatives to industrial agriculture,’ says Atelier Dalziel founder Matthew Dalziel.

Interspecies architecture is increasingly being used to reposition humans in the natural habitat and to make several species cohabit and thrive. With Multispecies Neighbourhoods, Atelier Dalziel explores how this can be achieved in an urban environment and how it can strengthen community ties.

Orléans – With acceptance of new family structures becoming more widespread, French company Commune is launching co-living spaces for single-parent families.

With two buildings under renovation, the first of Commune’s properties will open in September 2023 near Paris and will house 20–25 families. Each single parent with one or two children can rent a fully furnished private apartment with bedrooms, bathroom and kitchenette. They will also have access to a shared kitchen and dining area as well as a toy-filled playroom, a garden and terrace – plus a shared laundry. Tutoring and babysitting services are also on offer, as well as school transport, legal advice and tv streaming services.

Commune’s plans are ambitious: it raised £1.3m ($1.5 m, €1.5m) in seed funding in 2022 and aims to open 500 properties within a decade, targeting those earning £30–48k ($34–53.5, €35k–55k) annually with monthly rents starting at £1,033 ($1,160, €1,190).

According to Commune co-founders Tara Heuzé-Sarmini and Ruben Petry, single parents are more and more numerous, with one in four families being single-parent in France in 2021, and half of married couples divorcing, according to Eurostat. Explore more about future living scenarios in our Home & Family series, as well as our macrotrend, Neo-collectivism.

UK – Click-and-collect services will be worth £42.4bn ($47.5bn, €48.7bn) in the UK this year, accounting for 8.4% of the retail sector’s yearly income, according to a report by Barclays Corporate Banking.

Along with rising online sales, click-and-collect grew sharply during the pandemic and this has continued post-Covid. As consumers return to physical stores, retailers are expected to adapt to increasing demand for a hybrid shopping experience that combines online and physical stores, despite the cost of living crisis, which is expected to reduce retail spending in the UK by up to 30% by the end of the year.

Click-and-collect is expected to underpin 184,000 jobs across the industry, with 41% of physical stores now used as locations for the service. If retailers are to reap the benefits of this changing economic landscape, they will need a flexible structure that can adapt to ever-changing environments.