Itsy-bitsy living space: what are the world’s smallest apartments?

A ban on building one-room apartments smaller than 301 ft (28 m2) and two-room ones under 474 ft2 (44 m2) has entered force in Russia's capital Moscow.

Shrinking living space can present a threat to demographics, experts claim. While Russia’s demographic policy sets out to promote increased birth rate, not all countries share those concerns. Tiny homes dubbed ‘human anthills,’ ‘coffin homes’ and ‘cage beds’ exist all over the world.

⚡️ Across the US, apartments, particularly rental ones, have been shrinking for the past decade as urban living costs surge. The average size of studio apartments has decreased by 54 ft2 (5 m2), and averages just 445 ft2 (41 m2), according to a RentCafe report. In New York, always expensive to live in, people are ready to live in rooms of 65 ft2 (6 m2), some of which have no bathroom.

⚡️ In the UK, where people have been feeling the pinch of a sky-high cost of living, even Londoners have embraced the micro-apartment trend. The broom-closet size living spaces can range from 200 to 400 ft2 (19 to 37 m2).

⚡️ Tiny revamped studio apartments with minimal facilities – typically the former servants' quarters in large houses – are all the rage in France. These are around 65 to 129 ft2 (6 to 12 m2).

⚡️ Germany has witnessed a micro-apartment boom over the past years amid surging living costs. Such spaces boast a floor area of 215 to 323 ft2 (20 to 30 m2). Students at the University of Kiel and a local charity have turned shipping containers into homes for students and the homeless, rented out at about $320 a month.

⚡️ In Asian countries, with their acute shortage of space, homes of 161 ft2 (15 m2) is the norm. It is estimated that some 200,000 people in China reside in Hong Kong’s ‘coffin homes’, unable to even stretch out their legs fully in apartments of 22 ft2 (2 m2). In Japan’s capital Tokyo, affordable tiny apartments measure 108 ft2 (10 m2).

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Euro 2024 and Taylor Swift spur consumer confidence in Germany amid structural economic problems

German consumers display higher level of confidence, compared to the rest of Eurozone, showed the research by European Commission. The indicator stands at -7.7 points for Germans, while for other Europeans it is -13 points.

🔹 Euro 2024 at work?

“It is highly likely that the euphoria triggered by the European football championship in Germany in large parts of the population plays a role,” Rolf Buerkl from the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions told Bloomberg.

According to the most modest estimates, about 2.5 million football fans travelled to Berlin alone, boosting local business.

🔹 Swiftonomics on the March
Consumer confidence surge also could be spurred by Taylor Swift’s concert tour of German cities. Experts long have agreed that the pop singer has an economic impact comparable to the GDP of a small country.

“The seven Taylor Swift concerts increased consumption while not necessitating high state contributions,” stressed economis Christiane von Berg to Bloomberg.

🔹 Grim Outlook

But experts seriously doubt that consumer euphoria will last long, given the severity of German economic problems.

“It remains to be seen whether this effect is sustainable,” cautioned Buerkl.

Currently, Germany faces the highest number of bankruptcies since the summer of 2016, while industrial production plummets. Leading national economic research institutions have lowered the country’s GDP growth forecast from 1.3% to 0.1% for 2024.

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British troops living in moldy, rat-infested housing as top brass sits on multi-million pound pensions

The UK’s Armed Forces are facing a new scandal amid revelations that top defense officials have seen their pensions hiked by as much as 50% with their nest-eggs ballooning to over £11 million (about $14 million) as the military faces equipment shortfalls and a recruitment crisis, and many military families are forced to live in unsanitary and dangerous housing.

Armed Forces chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin alone is in line to receive a pension worth some £4.5 million ($5.76 million) “the biggest public sector pot ever,” The Daily Mail calculated, including a £470,000 ($602,000) cash payout when the 57-year-old retires.

Ministry of Defense Permanent Secretary David Williams, the government’s principle civilian advisor on defense, has a pension coming to him of nearly £2 million ($2.56 million). His job, incidentally, includes a responsibility for finances and planning as the MOD’s departmental accounting officer, including “personal accountability to Parliament for the economic, efficient and effective use of defense resources.”

Poor housing, with mold, rat and other pest infestations and maintenance issues adds to a series of other problems ranging from a recruitment crisis and weapons shortages to reports the armed forces have been “hollowed out” – partly by the transfer of equipment to Ukraine.

Britain lost its status as a “top-tier” military thanks to budget shortfalls and due to the gifting of equipment to Ukraine “with no plans to replace [it],” defense sources told the media last year.

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US modernizes nuclear weapons, cranking up tensions

Driving the narrative of nuclear security threats allegedly emanating from Russia and in China, Jill Hruby, US Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, has laid out the details of the country’s nuclear weapon modernization program.

⚡️ The agency already delivered over 200 modernized nuclear weapons to the Pentagon in 2023 -the largest one-year delivery since the end of the Cold War. That became possible due to inflated investments of the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.

⚡️ For fiscal year 2025, NSSA will receive about $25 billion for the design and maintenance of the US nuclear stockpile, the creation of new nuclear warheads ($21 billion), the development of nuclear propulsion systems for the fleet ($2 billion) and nuclear non-proliferation efforts ($2 billion).

⚡️ NNSA expects the first delivery of B61-13, a new thermonuclear bomb announced in October, in 2026.

⚡️ Other developments touch upon the W88 Alteration (Alt) 370 Program, the B61-12 and the W80-4 Life Extension Programs (LEP).

⚡️ A new nuclear warhead, the W93, is intended for deployment on US ballistic missile submarines by 2040.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Sunday the United States and the West saying the escalating course of the United States and the West forces Moscow to take steps to strengthen nuclear deterrence measures.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the plenary session of the SPIEF in June, did not rule out that the country's nuclear doctrine would have to be adjusted. He said that the changes are caused by lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in the West.

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US will gather forces from allies to collectively defend Israel against possible attack

"We [the US] and our allies are preparing for every possibility. We will work to defend Israel against threats that is faces from outside its borders. Israel faced an extraordinary threat on April 13,” US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer told CNN. “The United States, other partners and allies mastered to help Israel defend against and defeat that threat and we are preparing to do so again."

Earlier today, the US Department of Defense stated that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would monitor the deployment of additional forces to the Middle East to protect Israel, and that a final decision on the size of the forces is yet to be made.


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🔹 Itsy-bitsy living space: what are the world’s smallest apartments?

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