The Mass-Customisation of Urban Housing

Abstract

The housing process in dense metropolitan environments experiences difficulties to adapt to the comprehensive needs and wants of the modern household. As a consequence of the increasing flexibility in daily-life, there is a growing diversity in the shape of households and their living patterns. In addition, digital developments enable and create more specific requirements among users for the products they purchase. Knowing the impact that these rapid developments have on consumerism, it is inevitable that users will create stronger preferences for their living environment as well. These tendencies in our society must be translated to its housing. To adapt to such diverse demands would be a difficult challenge for the housing market. Current processes make it labour-intensive and therefore a costly and unsustainable matter. It is of importance that both our existing and future housing is able to respond to these demands in an adaptive and sustainable manner.

A possible solution, responding to the diverse demand, would be to involve the consumers themselves in the development of their dwelling. When involved, consumers can directly shape the dwelling to their needs themselves; customisation. However, current practices make this an undoable matter. The over-complexity in (pre)construction processes and conservative mind-sets of real-estate developers and construction firms hinder any level of participation with the consumer. There is a need for smart processes and designs to involve the user in the realisation of the customised urban dwelling.