Trend Watch, October 2017

Rich millennials drop golf for ‘agrihoods’:

Twenty-five years ago moving near a golf course was a status symbol, largely for the green space and views, but millennials aren’t interested in that type of manicured neighbourhood, writes the Business Insider.

Forget empty swathes of green, millennials are more interested in farm-to-table living, with around 150 master-planned housing communities built around working farms, known as agricultural neighbourhoods or ‘agrihoods’ appearing around the US.

The homes feature solar panels and composting, and are often minutes from city centres so as to not sacrifice work opportunities for lifestyle.

The trend means that in some places, communities are doing away with golf courses to make room for sustainable living. Read more.

Photo by Rancho Mission Viejo, Facebook.

The war on sitting:

US and UK city councils can’t decide whether to offer more seats, or rip them out, writes CityLab.

While new benches with usb charging points and other bells and whistles are appearing with fanfare in some parks and train stations, in other places seats are removed in efforts to deter drug dealers and the homeless.

The war on sitting can be waged even in the one spot. For instance, writer Amy Crawford reports that the London Borough of Islington installed new ‘smart’ benches with wifi, solar panels, and phone charging stations, but soon after the council announced it would remove them, due to a lack of planning permission and concerns about thieves.

At Disneyland benches were removed by the city from bus shelters as they’d become a hub for the local homeless and street community. “Bus riders were losing access to the benches – people were basically occupying them 24 hours a day,” a city spokesperson said.

The trend may fit in a greater context of so-called hostile architecture, where spikes are installed to stop sitting and sleeping, in tandem with anti-vagrancy laws.

However, abundant public seating helps older people stay mobile, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. To this end, an initiative by New York City’s Department of Transportation provides public bench request forms, with 1500 seats currently installed and another 600 planned by 2019.

To seat or not to seat? Cities as a whole can be indecisive. Read more.

Photo: New York City Department of Transportation.