The clip below from February 2019 is a fascinating example of how urban design choices can facilitate the type of independent living that New Zealand cities have long neglected. This Japanese-American chap's rent in the famously expensive Japanese capital is NZ$1308/mo, or NZ$300/wk. The Tokyo apartment is only 24sqm but it fits an awful lot in with clever design, including a small but decent balcony. I know older designs of New Zealand council bedsits are now deemed inappropriate accommodation, but I wonder if that's a factor of how outdated their design was, and our prejudices about the need for large living areas. If we can build loads of these sorts of studios for solo tenants wouldn’t that help to tackle the enormous demand backlog? And help loads of New Zealanders who want of need to live independently, rather than be subjected to ever-longer bouts of flat-sharing? Could we build twice as many 24sqm studios as 50sqm one-bedroom apartments for roughly the same amount, and thereby provide accommodation to twice as many people?
(Also, the toilet roll holder in the apartment in the video is, as this guy says, very clever. Trust the Japanese!)
It's noteworthy that a comparison of living costs between Japan and New Zealand reveals that despite what you might imagine, average monthly disposable salary in Japan is actually almost identical to New Zealand, and many Japanese cost-of-living prices are considerably lower than in New Zealand.
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