Will Our Living Space Shrink in the Future?

We are currently experiencing several overlapping societal shifts:

Social media giants’ owners have become entangled in politics, already driving both users and advertisers away from their platforms. The Dead Internet Theory signals a future where the web is flooded with bots and AI-generated content that’s indistinguishable from real. Bots create content for other bots, and humans mainly want to escape the internet altogether. Services are moving further into virtual reality, possibly into the metaverse – but in the future, people might no longer be there.

The transformation of working life is now seen by experts as a permanent state, as noted in the Confederation of Finnish Industries’ Working Life in Transition seminar on 20 March 2025. As part of this shift, Gen Z is expected to disrupt traditional career paths by favouring entrepreneurship over climbing the managerial ladder. One reason: disappointment in the strain and rigidity of working life. As AI becomes capable of doing much of what humans do, we’ll need to find meaning and purpose outside of work.

Climate change and its side effects – such as flight shame, coolcationing and last chance tourism – are already affecting air travel. Flying will inevitably decline in the future, both due to people’s ethical concerns and increased restrictions imposed by governments.

Housing is also in flux. Living is concentrating ever more in large cities, especially in Southern Finland. People buy their first home later in life, while rental prices continue to rise. All of this pushes us towards smaller living spaces.

Tiny homes, a lack of daily meaning, and a “dead internet” are driving us to seek real human connection and community. There are already signs of a rise in communal living. In Finland, for instance, the Airola sisters live on the same property. In Malmö, Sweden, a former hospital now houses 30 adults and their children as a co-housing project. In the Tampere City Region Population 2040 future outlook, millennials’ dreams include increased community and jointly purchased terraced houses with friends.

A Strategic Perspective

Political shifts affect us all – they create anxiety and deepen polarisation. How can your brand offer people a sense of community, either physically or emotionally, in a way that feels genuine?