Micro-apartments Conquer Global Metropolises

Once, the concept was to have a large house, at least a two-story one, with a large yard, but today, in major global metropolises, buildings with so-called micro-apartments are increasingly being constructed.

 The new trend has emerged due to the rapid growth of apartment rentals and changes in lifestyle. There are more and more singles who work all day, which is why they do not need large and expensive luxury apartments in city centers, but rather a place where they can sleep, which has everything they need, namely a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. And all of this in about 20 square meters. What is called a micro-apartment in Croatia already exists, known as a ‘studio’. 

The reason why, for example, in the United States they do not know what a studio is, is the legislation that determines how many minimum square meters an apartment must have. In New York, until recently, it was 37 square meters. Otherwise, this new trend of building micro-apartments is not surprising because most young people in business centers around the world work from 12 to 16 hours a day, even on weekends, eat in restaurants, often go out to nightclubs, so they actually need an apartment only for sleeping and showering.

Although small apartments were previously associated with the crowded Japanese capital Tokyo or some other Asian metropolis, the leader of the micro-apartment construction trend is New York. More precisely, its business center, Manhattan. Living on that island has been among the most expensive in the world for years because space limitations have accelerated the rise in rental prices. After several of the first private residential buildings with many micro-apartments of 20 to 30 square meters were built, which were more than well received in the real estate market, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg involved the city government in the construction of such buildings. Last year, a competition called ‘Adapt NYC’ was announced specifically for the construction of residential buildings with micro-apartments. That the market is ready for this new trend is also evident from statistical data. Namely, the average rental cost for an apartment in the U.S. is 30 percent of citizens’ income, while in New York, rent consumes more than 45 percent of a salary. Since data shows that the average annual salary of employees in Manhattan is $61,290, anything above $1,500 per month for rent is considered (too) expensive. This cost does not include utilities.

However, the construction of such small apartments has also faced criticism that living in these ‘cages’ is inhumane, but research has shown that families or individuals sharing larger two-bedroom and/or three-bedroom apartments due to lower costs, so-called roommates, already live in less square footage per person than singles will have in micro-apartments. An additional plus of these ‘studios’ is privacy. That this trend will become practice is shown by the fact that New York today officially has 8.2 million residents, of which more than a third are singles and/or childless couples. The percentage of singles in Manhattan rises to nearly fifty percent, and the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,700 per month, which is not insignificant for one person.

Similar projects for buildings with micro-apartments are beginning to be constructed in San Francisco. There, the city government has also announced a competition for the construction of apartments ranging from 20 to 26 square meters; 375 will be offered on the market. Similar projects are also being announced in Boston.
The trend of building micro-apartments is not only dominant in America. The construction of such buildings is also being announced in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other overcrowded Asian metropolises, as well as across Europe. For example, a few months ago, apartments of about 15 square meters were ‘released’ on the market in London, and in just a few days, their price doubled. The Polish capital Warsaw also made headlines in many global media, including most Croatian ones, when the ‘slimmest house in the world’ was presented. This is Keret, a house only 120 centimeters wide designed by local architect Jakub Szczesny in a small space between two buildings; it has three floors with a bedroom, bathroom, and workspace. When asked whether this micro-apartment trend will catch on in Croatia, Vedrana Likan, director of Colliers International and president of the Council for Green Building in Croatia, responds that it largely depends on the labor market because such apartments could interest those living further from the city, which is why they might need a small apartment close to work, but few people can afford such a thing.

– In Zagreb, a different trend prevails: more and more luxury and expensive apartments, which were mostly rented by foreign multinational companies for their high-ranking management staff, are now being offered to tourists coming to the capital for a few days – says Likan, adding that since the beginning of the crisis, people are increasingly accepting jobs in other cities, which they rarely did before.
By the way, today, rental prices for small apartments in the center of Zagreb range from seven to 12 euros per square meter, which would mean that an apartment or, better said, a studio of 30 square meters costs between 200 and 350 euros. Clearly, depending on quality. The same square footage in New Zagreb, Špansko, and Dubrava costs between five to seven euros, i.e., from 100 to a maximum of 200 euros. An additional problem with this ‘New York trend’ is that in Croatia, the rental market is underdeveloped and mostly in the gray zone. The reason for this is the non-transparent and ineffective regulations, but also that Croatians have always preferred to live in their own property, so the sales market for apartments has significantly outpaced the development of the rental market. It is enough to say that today almost 90 percent of the housing stock is owned by individuals, while in most European countries, many families live their entire lives in organized and legal renting, thus solving their housing issues without long-term indebtedness to banks for purchasing their own apartment.