Published 04 June 2019 • Inter IKEA newsroom

“We firmly believe that better homes create better lives. We want the many people to find their community and a sense of belonging. We will explore future living with our partners, Ikano Bostad and SPACE10, building on the insights and knowledge from different areas that we have today. We have a unique opportunity when doing this together, also along with our shared IKEA values” says Evamaria Rönnegård, Development Leader, IKEA of Sweden.

Cities all around the world are facing rapid urbanisation, ageing populations, climate change and lack of natural resources as well as unpredictable housing prices. It is clear that we need to rethink construction, management and life cycle of our buildings to become sustainable, affordable and socially equal for the people who wish to live there.

IKEA has initiated two projects looking into how to enable a better everyday life by focusing on the multiple benefits of living in tight-knit communities, which give people a sense of belonging (a proven boost to health and happiness), and provide access to shared facilities and services including things like day care, urban farming, communal dining, fitness, shared transportation, and retail.

How can the IKEA commitment to make sustainable living easy - through integrated solutions like water harvesting, clean energy production, recycling and local food production - make a sustainable lifestyle simple, seamless and a natural part of everyday life? Can IKEA make life more affordable by enabling people to share more; pool resources, bundle subscription services, create more self-sufficiency? Can exploring new finance models and construction methods allow for cheaper homes to enter the market and enable more affordable living? And what are the digital tools needed to empower and connect people and strengthen a sense of community that enable people to live more flexibly and foster a feeling of control over the home and finances and connect people to services and facilities that ensure ease and well-being.

At Democratic Design Days in Älmhult, the two projects will be presented for the first time for a wider audience, who are able to physically and digitally participate in the two projects.

Better Living by IKEA and Ikano Bostad

Having the same founder, Ikano Bostad and IKEA also share the same heritage and values. With the broad knowledge of neighborhood and residential development, property management and of creating homes and furnishings, the project is able to explore and develop solutions for the future home.

The Better Living project show some of the areas we are exploring:

• A prototype of a new type of apartment 1:1, aimed to simplify sharing and open up for different kind of families
• A methodology of city planning with a people centric approach, to create better living in neighborhoods
• Different kind of products and home furnishing solutions for small space and shared living, sustainable and affordable for the many people

“This project gives a fantastic opportunity to broaden the scope of looking at the whole neighborhood as the home. Together with IKEA we want to explore ways to create more inclusive, diverse, sustainable and affordable living”, says Lotta Sjödin, Strategic Development Leader, Ikano Bostad

“With the combined knowledge IKEA and Ikano Bostad has, we are challenging ourselves by redefining what the homes of the future could be all about”, says Evamaria Rönnegård

The Urban Village Project by SPACE10

The Urban Villages Project wants to spark conversations about how we design, build, finance and share our future homes, neighborhoods and cities. The mission is to tackle some of the urgent challenges we face in our new urban realities, all while creating more liveable, affordable and sustainable homes for people.

SPACE10 launches the Urban Village Project to the public to hear people’s thoughts and feedback. The project combines:

• cross-generational shared living communities in the heart of our cities, with flexible, high quality homes connected to a variety of curated services and facilities as well as a digital interface, all to support the everyday life
• a lower entry point into the housing market by rethinking the way we design and finance our homes and introduces new subscription-based models offering the added opportunity to earn equity in where you live
• an adaptable building system connected to a circular business model, which both ensures a more sustainable and CO2 reducing construction method and a circular approach to the management and life cycle of our buildings.

“It is clear that unless we rethink our built environment, our cities will become increasingly unsustainable, unaffordable and socially unequal. For us shared living can offer potential solutions to some of these urgent challenges. The Urban Village Project looks at how we can create new realities that promote a sense of well being and turn the spaces we inhabit into healthier and happier places, all while being more affordable and efficient for those that live there,” says Jamiee Williams, Architectural Lead, SPACE10

IKEA of Sweden Press office +46 732 321300
pressoffice.rangesupply@inter.ikea.com

IKEA offers well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. There are several companies with different owners, working under the IKEA Brand, all sharing the same vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people.

Inter IKEA Group consists of three core businesses: Franchise, Range & Supply and Industry. Within the Franchise business, Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner of the IKEA Concept and the worldwide IKEA franchisor. It develops and offers the IKEA Concept to IKEA franchisees worldwide, enabling the long-term fulfilment of the IKEA business idea. In the Range & Supply business, IKEA of Sweden AB is responsible for developing, designing and producing home furnishing solutions to address the everyday needs of the many people.

About Ikano Bostad
Ikano Bostad helps create sustainable residential areas and neighborhoods in Sweden’s growing cities. We offer space-efficient, functional and sustainable homes at affordable prices for people at all stages of life. Ikano Bostad has 1,470 tenant-owned apartments, rental apartments and town houses in production and administrates 5,760 rental apartments and 293 nursing homes places. Ikano Bostad is a part of Ikano, an international business group owned by the Kamprad family. Ikano’s vision is to create possibilities for better living. Ikanobostad.se

About SPACE10
SPACE10 is a research and design lab for IKEA. SPACE10 is on a mission to build and facilitate a global research and design community to respond to the major societal changes expected to affect people and our planet in the years to come and inspire IKEA to find new ways of living up to their original promise of creating a better everyday life for the many people. In the Urban Village Project SPACE10 has worked together with EFFEKT, a research-based, multidisciplinary architecture and planning studio with the aim to create a lasting social, economic and environmental effect ensuring societal value in a local, regional and global context.