Think of all of the classic sitcoms we love. Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and even That’s So Raven: their city-dwelling characters spend equally as much time in “third spaces” – community spaces outside of the home – as in their actual homes. These third spaces, like coffee shops or the local bar, were extensions of their homes.
Finding a home in third spaces isn’t just a TV writers’ device, according to a new report from furniture giant IKEA. In fact, 29 percent of people across the globe felt at home outside of their homes. In cities, this number rises to 35 percent, according to this year’s Life at Home survey.
“For some people, ‘my home begins at my front door,'” writes Dr. Alison Blunt, co-director of the Centre for Studies of Home at Queen Mary University in London. “For other people, ‘my sense of home begins when I am within this area, around the estate within which I live.’ It’s that sense of a wider, more expansive notion of home.”
Furthering this point, 64 percent of respondents would rather live in a small home in a great location than a larger home in a “less ideal location.” While the survey didn’t define “great location” for the respondents, the conflict between the size of living space and location might imply that a great location is a relatively dense and walkable city.
Walkability is good for people’s quality of life and the economy. And what really captures these benefits are IKEA’s “home safaris” – case studies of how people (who own a surprisingly high amount of IKEA furniture) live across the world. From Jersey City to London, being able to walk to the park or just down the street brings people an inordinate amount of joy.
Photo by Andreas Komodromos