[1], new ways of working (e.g., remote working) and related technological needs, and the development of energy system requirements in response to climate change [2,3,4]. ; writing—original draft preparation, L.A.; writing—review and editing, D.D. Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE). Although the math might be slightly off in the square feet calculation. What Now? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database, https://www.populationpyramid.net/it/italia/2019, https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/107476/lares_result.pdf, https://www.levittbernstein.co.uk/site/assets/files/2682/one_hundred_years_of_housing_space_standards.pdf, https://www.oecd.org/els/family/HC2-1-Living-space.pdf, http://www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/RIBA-Case-for-space-2011.pdf, http://www.euro.who.int/_data/assets/pdf_file/0017/145511/e95004sum.pdf, https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_and_research/policy_library/policy_library_folder/full_house_how_overcrowded_housing_affects_families, https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Life-stages/healthy-ageing/data-and-statistics/demographic-trends,-statistics-and-data-on-ageing, https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2.html, https://www.vordruckverlag.de/lbo/hs1.pdf, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-act-1984-as-amended-by-the-deregulation-act-2015, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-regulations-and-amendment-regulations-2016-circular-032016, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000217471, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCode.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006074096&dateTexte=20141010. You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature. In some cases, this can even represent a real source of danger since it can cause domestic accidents. Technical Building Regulations in EU Countries: A Comparison of their Organization and Formulation; Proceedings of the CIB World Congress 2010, Building a Better World; Salford, UK. Are these enough space? This logic is also present in the building code, divided by type of accommodation. Canadians Enjoy Second-Most Living Space Per Person: Global Survey. Japan experienced a similar economic boom in the last few decades. France 5. Nevertheless this is reasonable as a picture using a broad brush stroke. (Dutch Building Decree—Bouwbesluit) [(accessed on 10 June 2020)]; Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbanas (RGEU) 2009-01-01. The average house size in the UK is relatively small at 76 m2 (818 ft2) while the average house size in Canada is quite big at 181 m2 (1,948 ft2). Chart of the Day: US Median Floor Area Per Capita Trends Houses with the same number of rooms can vary considerably in floor space. Secondly, statements about space need to be linked to occupancy levels: relatively large houses can have limited utility if they are overcrowded [7]. Average floor area per capita - Enerdata In 2018, the highest overcrowding rate among the analyzed countries in this study (Table 4) is recorded in Italy (28.3%), while the United Kingdom (4.8%), and The Netherlands (4.8%) recorded the lowest ones. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. D’Alessandro D., Dettori M., Raffo M., Appolloni L. Housing problems in a changing society: Regulation and training needs in Italy. As shown in Table 3, in Italy, the standard defines a minimum room size, based on use, that is much higher than those foreseen in other countries (e.g., a double room of 14 m2 and a living room of 14 m2). [(accessed on 30 September 2020)]; Williams K. Space per person in the UK: A review of densities, trends, experiences and optimum levels. The Italian legislation dictates stricter requirements than those of other countries, but, at the same time, protects the more vulnerable classes from the point of view of living spaces, defining a larger minimum standard in terms of housing size. One Hundred Years of Housing Space Standards. 3. Still, one thing for sure is that larger houses demand more heating and cooling. Considering the issues described above, this paper, as part of a debate on housing’ dimensional requirements interesting different countries [6,7,15], analyses and compares housing condition indicators of some European countries and their housing dimensional standards to evaluate their ability to answer population needs in terms of health and affordability and to define updated indication for Italian regulation. The Basic Documents contain procedures, technical rules and examples of solutions to determine whether the building meets the established performance levels. * countries selected. Living Space. (Plus Growing Tips!). "Average Number of Rooms per Person for Dwellings in Europe as of 2021, by Country. 1896 for the relevant parts still in force), Documento Basico SU—Segurided de utilizacion y accesibilidad 2018, DECRETO 141/2012, de 30 de octubre, por el que se regulan las condiciones mínimas de habitabilidad de las viviendas y la cédula de Habitabilidad. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. Codex CUP: B86D15001870001. In the OECD, the average home contains 1.7 rooms per person. one room for each single person aged 18 or more; one room per pair of single people of the same gender between 12 and 17 years of age; one room for each single person between 12 and 17 years of age and not included in the previous category; one room per pair of children under 12 years of age. The choices we make and the lifestyles we live have a profound impact on our planet. The minimum height in the accommodation is 2.20 m (Table 3). Household Size and Composition | Population Division The data reached an all-time high of 39.800 sq m in 2019 and a record low of 5.700 sq m in 1956. India has become the latest country to order a nationwide lockdown with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that "many families will be destroyed forever" if the country fails to get its coronavirus outbreak under control over the next three weeks. For the reasons described above, the reflection on living spaces, over the years, has expanded in the health sector [3,10,14,17,19,27,39], but also in the technical and economic sectors [6,7,8,15], due to the need to offer an adequate and sustainable housing supply. We also cover the contributors to the carbon footprint of a house here if you’re interested. Overall, the area of residential buildings per capita in Russia. You can save water by taking shorter showers, turning off the tap when brushing your teeth, installing a low-flow toilet, and many other ways. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck full of textiles is landfilled or burned. Housing Spaces in Nine European Countries: A Comparison of Dimensional ... collections. Rooms in the UK were at their largest in homes built during the 1970s. and least - living space per person - Centre for Cities Where waste cannot be avoided, recycling leads to substantial resource savings. Dettori M., Altea L., Fracasso D., Trogu F., Azara A., Piana A., Arghittu A., Saderi L., Sotgiu G., Castiglia P. Housing Demand in Urban Areas and Sanitary Requirements of Dwellings in Italy. ", Eurostat, Average number of rooms per person for dwellings in Europe as of 2021, by country Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/615448/number-of-rooms-per-person-by-country-dwellings-europe/ (last visited June 06, 2023), Average number of rooms per person for dwellings in Europe as of 2021, by country [Graph], Eurostat, September 5, 2022. The availability of space in a home affects how and where people prepare and consume food, how they socialise, how they handle household waste and recycling, how they store goods, how much privacy they have for study, work, relaxation or free time, children’s play, to what extent and how they can adapt to new needs (e.g., isolation, disability), etc. Average living space of PRH tenants Hong Kong 2007-2022 - Statista The region with the widest range between the largest and smallest median floor spaces is London, with Bromley having a median floorspace of 97sqm and the City of London having a median value of 47sqm. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Interpersonal distance and spatial relationships between people and the environment play a fundamental role both in physical health (e.g., transmissible diseases) [17,19,20] and in feeling comfortable or uncomfortable in each situation. Spain 7. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. You only have access to basic statistics. As regards studio-apartments, the Decree 141/2012 in force in the Catalan Region (Spain) indicates a minimum area (net surface) of 20 m2. Space per person in the UK: A review of densities, trends, experiences ... Housing costs refer to monthly expenditure that is connected to living in a property (e.g., mortgage, taxes, costs of utilities or rental payments for tenants, etc. In particular, the study focused on the analysis and comparison of Italian housing standards—defined by Health Ministerial Decree dated 5 July 1975—with those of some European countries [41] to investigate the aspects related to the housing dimensional standards and how these have been dealt with, within the regulations. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/644523/south-korea-living-space-per-person/, Average living space per person in South Korea from 2006 to 2021, Immediate access to statistics, forecasts & reports, Living space per person South Korea 2006-2021, Home ownership rate South Korea 2021, by household type, Perception of homeownership South Korea 2020, Residential buildings South Korea 2005-2021, Number of housing construction permits South Korea 2011-2022, Number of housing construction permits in South Korea 2022, by province, Distribution of housing construction permits in South Korea 2021, by housing size, Number of housing construction permits in South Korea 2022, by housing size, Housing transactions volume South Korea 2009-2021, Housing purchase transactions volume South Korea 2009-2021, Housing purchase transactions volume South Korea 2021, by province, Apartment purchase transactions volume South Korea 2009-2022, Number of unsold housing South Korea 2011-2022, Mean purchase price of housing South Korea 2022, by housing type, Mean purchase price of apartments South Korea 2022, by size, Mean purchase price of housing South Korea 2022, by province, Mean jeonse price of housing South Korea 2022, by housing type, Mean jeonse price of housing South Korea 2022, by province, Total mortgage loans South Korea 2011-2022, Mortgage loan originations in South Korea in 2021, by DTI ratio, Mortgage loan originations in South Korea in 2021, by housing type, Average living space of PRH tenants Hong Kong 2007-2022, Survey on young adults housing situation in Finland 2016, by housing type, Distribution of urban housing shortage in India 2012 by housing type, Distribution of urban housing shortage in India 2012 by income, InfoCasas.com: online searches of apartments for sale in Asunción 2018, by size, Average price per square meter of an apartment in Poland 2020, Living conditions as a source of happiness among Chinese 2020, Production of public permanent housing flats Hong Kong 2006-2021, by subcategory, Share of Americans living in a multigenerational household 1950-2016, Private permanent housing flat production in Hong Kong 2006-2020 by district, Share of households in Belgium and the Netherlands living in a rent dwelling 2016, Number of people living in a multigenerational household in the U.S. 2016, by type, Opinions on own living condition in Nigeria 2020, by area, Living a meaningful life as a source of happiness among Chinese 2020, Exposure to infections in Africa 2016-2018, by country, Average living space per person in South Korea from 2006 to 2021 (in square meters per person), Find your information in our database containing over 20,000 reports. How much living space does the average household have in Japan? The indicator used to evaluate the space availability is the overcrowding rate, as defined by Eurostat, that calculates the percentage of people living in an overcrowded household. The ideal entry-level account for individual users. From a carbon emissions point of view you got the feeling that his travel habit probably negated much of the benefits of having less stuff (as pointed out by Christie Aschwanden). Given the situation, personal space at home matters, particularly when it comes to remote working while simultaneously attempting to balance family issues or deal with roommates. Given the situation, personal space at home matters, particularly when it comes to remote working while simultaneously attempting to balance family issues or deal with roommates. Popov V.I., Capasso L., Klepikov O.V., Appolloni L., D’Alessandro D. Hygienic Requirements of Urban Liv ing Environment in the Russian Federation and in Italy: A comparison. Overcrowding facilitates the spread of airborne infectious diseases (tuberculosis, influenza and related respiratory infectious diseases, meningococcal disease, Covid-19, etc.) Today, modern housing units must meet new needs and requirements. In this article, we got to look at the different home sizes of countries around the world. 4. Reynods L., Robinson N. Full House? 190 of 18 July 1975) [(accessed on 10 June 2020)]; Gola M., Signorelli C., Buffoli M., Rebecchi A., Capolongo S. Local health rules and building regulations: A survey on local hygiene and building regulation in Italian municipalities. Figures - Economy | Trends in the Netherlands 2019 - CBS Retrieved from World Health organization Regional Office for Europe. Second, almost certainly we are mixing apartments and free-standing dwellings. With one shower of about 10 minutes a day, an average person consumes the equivalent of over 100,000 glasses of drinking water every year. Chart. (September 5, 2022). Of course, as with population density, this data is broad with land distribution and usage to consider, but it's informative from a general viewpoint. Northern Ireland 12. The United States has an average home size of 130.7  square meters, which is the second-largest in the world. Regarding the health impacts associated with accessibility, failure to meet the occupants’ needs concerning the physical characteristics of the living space can generate impediments to the full use of the premises. For instance, the USA has a higher GDP than Canada but about a 20% smaller home size (by floor space). Floor Area of Residential Building per Capita: Urban data is updated yearly, averaging 18.220 sq m from Dec 1956 to 2020, with 42 observations. Careers, Unable to load your collection due to an error. Data journalist covering technological, societal and media topics. Demand for natural resources is at an all-time high and continues to grow -- for food, clothing, water, housing, infrastructure and other aspects of life. How Big is a House? Average House Size by Country - 2023 Other factors in this equation are related to economics and population density. The regulations were downloaded from the websites of the official channels of each country. Increasing the thermostat setting from 24°C to 28°C during the cooling season can reduce annual cooling energy use by more than a factor of three for a typical office building in Zurich, Switzerland. Below, you'll find statistics on the average home sizes and floor space for different countries around the world, and some interesting correlations and fun facts from the data! We can likely attribute this to England's having the highest population density of any European country on this list! Generally, these two factors have a lot of weight in the average home size of a country. and the spread of faecal-orally transmitted diseases [23,24]. In Spain there are no mandatory separate spaces and in fact there are no dimensional indications on the living space, except for the single bedroom whose size must be 6 m2 (Table 3), which is reduced to a useful surface of not less than 5 m2 in pre-existing buildings. This analysis is a bit rough and ready, as it assumes new homes are being built for the average household. Çavusoglu O., Gould C., Long P., Riera M. Capolongo S., Rebecchi A., Buffoli M., Appolloni L., Signorelli C., Fara G.M., D’Alessandro D. COVID-19 and cities: From urban health strategies to the pandemic challenge. At the same time, in the United Kingdom (37.7%) and Spain (38.1%) more than one third of the population, living as tenants with market price rents, spend more than 40% of their disposable income on housing, followed by Spain (38.1%), Italy (29.1%) and Denmark (28.9%), while France (14.9%) and Sweden (18.9%) show the lowest percentage of overburden [67]. Therefore, an adequate space should meet environmental requirements, mainly related to the needs of person–space relationship based on the activities that are carried out within, but it should also meet psychological needs, hygiene requirements, safety, and full housing usability. These problems are amplified by the application of sealed fixtures to save energy. As introduced before, attitudes towards minimum standards of space are specific to places and experiences: they come to reflect fundamental beliefs about the usefulness and purpose of housing. Considering the available evidence, the WHO [17] strongly recommends housing interventions aimed at preventing domestic accidents, for example, eliminating obstacles and adopting design solutions that take into account the sizing of the premises [3,15,39]. 14. In most of the countries analysed in this study, the development of housing is undertaken within a framework of fixed minimum interior spaces [7]. Chart. Australia is a country that has sizable rural areas, where homes tend to be cheaper and therefore more likely to be larger. In fact, our lifestyles are. The likely reason for this is that the USA has a much higher population than Canada, making it more likely that homes in urban areas would be smaller. But that aside it raised an interesting question: how much square footage is enough space for a house? The regulation of Germany (Hessen) [47] (Table 3) too does not identify minimum size standards for the different housing environments; instead, as regard the minimum height of the rooms, the standard is set at 2.40 m for the main rooms and 2.20 m for basements and garrets. CCM 2015 Project “Identification of best practices and health performance objectives, in terms of sustainability and eco-compatibility in the buildings’ construction and renovation actions, aimed to draft the further building hygiene codes”. General recommendations include technical examples, testing methods and some explanatory information [42,43,46]. Source: https://www.populationpyramid.net/it/italia/2019 (accessed on 9 September 2020). Housing deprivation, in 2018, ranges from 5.0% in Italy to 1.3% in the Netherlands. Act Now @ Youth Forum – Participants at the UN Youth Forum holding signs in support of the Act Now campaign. It is also necessary to quantify the percentage of housing stock not satisfying the standards and the number of people living there, considering the variability between countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that "many families will be destroyed forever" if the country fails to get its coronavirus outbreak under control over the next three weeks. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Using water smartly can help us ensure a steady flow of clean, safe water. Fossil fuels power the ships that carry trade and the airplanes that allow us to travel. Nigeria seemed to be getting closer to a complete shutdown earlier this week with more states adopting stricter measures. But 30  m2 per person is much more generous in a four person family than it is in a studio apartment for one. The lockdown will last 21 days and apply to all of India's 36 states and territories, affecting some 1.3 billion people. [(accessed on 10 June 2020)]; Integrale Tekst van hEt Bouwbesluit 2012 Zoals dit Luidt Met Ingang van 1 juli 2013. PDF Hc2.1. Living Space - Oecd Royal Institute of Brithis Architects (RIBA). At just 15 m2 (161 ft2) a person in Hong Kong has just a quarter of the floor space of the average Australian or American. Openpolis. The small size of the housing, combined with poor construction quality and general standardisation of housing products, is very often a limiting factor for flexibility and adaptability [74]. The minimum standard for ceiling height is 2.50 m in the main rooms and 2.20 m in service rooms (Table 3). Is there an optimum house square footage of space per person? Proposals to expand permitted development rights, which would allow . European countries like Italy, Austria, and Germany all have fairly large average home sizes as well. Table 3 shows the minimum dimensional standards available in each examined country. One thing to note – house sizes change slowly. As reported in Table 4, in 2019, Italy showed the highest overcrowding rate among the EU states analyzed, equal to 28.3%. Switching to an electric car can help reduce emissions, improve air quality and boost green jobs — if the electricity is not powered by fossil fuels. … to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time. Mai 2018. 12. In the BC, there is no indication of verification methods, but reference to specific and national rules [42,43,46] is implicit. As age increases, the percentage of people with disabilities also increases, making the accessibility and usability of homes crucial requirements to improve the ability of these people to live independently, using all indoor and outdoor spaces. Let us know in the comments section! The analysis of regulatory documents shows different approaches to the definition of dimensional standards in the European countries considered. The evidence is all around! The legislation also prescribes that at least 55% of the space inside homes must consist of living space (living room, kitchen, bedrooms); this requirement was introduced to limit service spaces (bathrooms, corridors, circulation spaces, technical spaces). Recycling also creates jobs: the recycling sector employs 12 million people in Brazil, China and United States alone. Regarding the Netherlands, the Building Decree [Bouwbesluit] 2012 [59] was selected, whose introduction in 2003 led to the national standardisation of all technical regulations. In any case, we agree with Morgan and Cruickshank [30] who observed that “converting an understanding of how different people use their homes into a single number will never fully reflect the complex needs of real people”. The built environment and mental health. And finally, the minimum standard for ceiling height is 2.70 m in the main rooms (as in Italy) and 2.20 m in the service rooms (Table 3). As far as the division of space inside the dwellings is concerned, excluding bathrooms, French regulations make an open-plan configuration possible as they provide neither indications on the separation of rooms nor specific standards for individual rooms, except for the single bedroom which must have a minimum surface area of 9 m2 and in any case not less than 7 m2. We are using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our current way of life, and ecosystems cannot keep up with our demands. OECD Better Life Index Food systems generate one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions and are responsible for up to 80% of biodiversity loss. The New York Times published a piece about Graham Hill’s 420 square-foot (39 square-metre) apartment in which he argued that having less space and less stuff can create room in your life for more important things (remarkably this figure is close to Hong Kong and India’s average house size). In Italy, as in France, the dimensional standard of the living space is measured in m2 per inhabitant: the minimum requirement is 14 m2 each for the first 4 occupants (Table 3), which is reduced to 10 m2 for each additional occupant. The site is secure. In the year 1950, the average square footage of a brand new home in the United States was 980. In China, where people have had to endure some of the toughest lockdown measures worldwide over the past six weeks, the average living area per person is 323 square feet (30 square meters). Making it easier for people to use cleaner forms of transport or eat more plant-based foods, for instance, can help shift consumption patterns, particularly among the world’s wealthiest, and could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 40-70% by 2050. and its minimum performance (usability, accessibility and furnishing), eliminating rigid divisions by rooms. The average house size in the US was 225 m2 (2426 ft2) in 2017. For France, the normative documents analysed are Décret n°2002-120 (Version consolidée 7 septembre 2020) [51], which indicates the essential characteristics that should be fulfilled in order to have proper housing, and a national technical reference standard, Code de la Costruction et de l’Habitation (Building and housing code) [52], which is mainly prescriptive. Restrictions have been tougher in certain countries such as France where people cannot leave their homes without a signed document while they are somewhat looser in Germany where going outdoors is allowed, though only a maximum of two people (or family units) are permitted to be together. It takes about 7,500 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans -- from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the final product to the store. First, Hong Kong has a much higher population density than Canada, meaning people have to be packed into smaller spaces. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. Recent data regarding square feet of living space in different countries is actually surprisingly difficult to find and German newspaper Zeit.de used various sources, Monday, June 5. Americans Are Living as Large as Ever - Bloomberg