In cramped quarters, but no offense: ah, this brave new world of micro-apartments

More and more people decide to move to large cities, but, unfortunately or fortunately, they are not rubber at all. It usually follows from this that apartments are becoming more and more cramped, and the standards of living in megacities are becoming more modest. While some are looking for neighbors to rent an apartment with them, others have to huddle in very tiny apartments, sitting on each other's heads.

It is unclear how residents of micro-apartments do this, but some really manage to live literally on a few square meters.

90-year-old Wang Kunchun lives with his 60-year-old son in an apartment of 9 square meters. Shanghai, China.

At the real estate exhibition in Guangzhou, China's largest developer China Vanke demonstrates micro-apartments.

In China, where space is not superfluous due to an overabundance of population, the concept of "tiny" is gradually losing its negative connotation. In this exhibit, for example, as in many small apartments, an efficient storage system allows you to live not too crowded.

The Berger family from Los Angeles huddles in the former garage of his wife's mother. In 2009, the Bergers lost their home, and for family reasons they had to sell all their property.

Dharavi is a district in the center of the Indian city of Mumbai. Dharavi is considered one of the largest areas in the world, which, according to the classification, quite fall under the definition of "slums": about a million people live here.

The monthly cost of renting an apartment with an area of 9 square meters here is from 4 to 6 dollars.

But in Hong Kong, the situation with real estate prices is different. These mother and son, for example, rent an apartment of 5.5 square meters for $ 487 per month.

For comparison: John-Christian Stablefield lives in a "spacious" studio with an area of 18 square meters in Seattle, Washington, USA.

"This option was available to me within my means: the apartment is located in the city center and costs only $ 1,200 per month," John—Christian said.

Singchul Yu, who lives a few miles from John Christian, agrees that an apartment of 18 square meters is enough for living alone.

In the Chinese city of Hefei, for example, patients who cannot afford a separate bed in a local hospital are forced to huddle in rooms with an area of 7 square meters located in one of the buildings nearby.

In Hong Kong, real estate prices are so high that some people have money only for very tiny rooms with an area of 3 square meters.

At the same time, in 2015, the first residential complex with micro-apartments with an area of 27 square meters appeared in New York.

Modern design, convenient storage systems, beds built into the wall: the cost of a month's rent of all this pleasure ranges from 2500 to 2900 dollars.

But sometimes even 27 square meters seem like a luxurious space. Keret's house in Warsaw (named after the Israeli writer Etgar Keret) is only 91 centimeters wide at its narrowest point.

This house is so small that it is classified by state authorities as an art installation. Artists who come to the city for a few days are settled here.

He opened his door (yes, there is only one) for residents in 2012.

73-year-old Kong Kyungsun lives in an apartment with a living area of only 1.9 square meters.

It is located near the prestigious Gangnam district in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

And this Hong Kong apartment with an area of 55 square meters is divided into 19 small parts of 2.3 square meters each. They are known as "cubicle houses" or "coffin houses".

The cost of renting such a small room is $ 150 per month. The rooms are separated from each other by thin wooden panels. But the tenants live just a few steps from the city center.