Cities are also changing in a new form of urban dweller. They are neither passing tourists who spend a few days nor permanent residents bound with long time leases. Instead, they exist between of sorts, a rising number of individuals which is commonly referred to as the inbetweeners. These individuals are re-defining the meaning of belonging to a city and can be found in international students and digital nomads as well as in creatives, freelancers, and visiting researchers.
Who are the inbetweeners?
The inbetweeners are extremely mobile people who do not live years in one place but weeks or months. They could be a student studying a semester in a foreign country, a startup founder trying out a new market, or an artist working on a short-term project. Remote work has enhanced the trend, and it has never been easier to be based in Berlin in spring and Lisbon in autumn.
The thing that brings them together is flexibility. They desire to have all the life of the city generally local cafes, gyms, coworking spaces and neighborhoods without being tied down to permanent relocation or the red tape.
The reason why cities are appealing to them.
Global cities survive and flourish on diversity, talent, and innovation, and inbetweeners will import all three. They not only provide contributions to a local economy, but also occupy cafes and other work stations in working days, and offer an international angle to creative and intellectual societies. Different cities such as Barcelona, Amsterdam and London are in the process of adjusting to accept these temporary residents using co-living solutions and temporary work-visas and lively digital nomad communities.
The development of urban infrastructure is also changing. Applications such as Citymapper can guide novices through the convoluted nature of transport networks with minimal effort, and digital banks such as Monzo can get money over the border under the same effort. A combination of these tools will reduce the obstacles to establishing a new place to stay in a short period.
The housing crisis – and the remedy.
Among the most outstanding wants among the inbetweeners are the need to find a place to stay in which they can accommodate their lifestyle fully furnished, flexible and without any long term contracts. The formal rentals are usually a tedious process that takes a lot of paperwork, local guarantors and minimum stay that do not apply to short term residents.
This is where temporary housing platforms come in. Spotahome is one that is specifically aimed at individuals who want to find verified move-in ready apartments and rooms to stay somewhere within the medium term. It provides a clear listing and a flexible booking service between long lease and hotels by providing the inbetweeners an opportunity to feel at home since the first day.
How cities are adapting
However, with this population on the rise, cities are reconsidering housing, services, and community spaces. We are witnessing increased co-living projects, mixed residential-work spaces and areas that would encourage communication between the temporary residents and the locals. Universities collaborate with housing services to assist international students, and the cities consider the option of establishing policies that would accommodate both the demand and needs of the permanent residents.
Even certain cities are marketing themselves as destinations of mobile professionals, quality of life, scene, and affordability to new generation urbanites.
The future of urban living
The emergence of the inbetweeners can also be explained by the larger tendency of flexibility and experience-based life. To some, the life is no longer about finding a home and making a permanent living here, but about relocating to where the opportunities, inspiration and society are experienced.
With sites such as Spotahome and apps such as Citymapper and Monzo constantly being developed, the boundary between a visitor and a resident will become even more unclear. The cities which adapt to this transformation, provide intelligent housing options and a smooth flow of city life, will be the ones which will succeed in this new age of transgressional urban living, but with a heavy sense of connection.
