Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to be stuck at home, with little to no physical activity at all. Aside from living a sedentary life, people were also affected mentally. Given that most of us are in our homes most of the time, the pandemic has left us with little to no interaction with the outside world, may it be with people or with the environment. As text messages and video calls became the norm, face-to-face meetings and hangouts are slowly becoming obsolete. Individual lifestyles and routines were disrupted which left many people feeling sluggish and hopeless. This begs the question: what now?
Our home is our sanctuary, our source of peace and solitude, but how can we seek comfort amidst the pandemic in our own safe space? How do real estate developments impact the wellness and lifestyle of people?
Our homes as an investment in our wellness
According to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), it is time to treat our homes as an investment in our wellness since our homes, communities, and surrounding environment impact our routine, behavior, and lifestyle which make up 80-90 percent of our health outcomes. As mentioned earlier, our home is our safe space which provides us peace and solitude, so it is logical to also invest in our physical and mental wellness.
Unhealthy lifestyles reinforced by our homes
Sedentary lifestyles, lack of physical activity, poor diet, stress, social isolation, and environmental degradation—these are just some of the health risks that exist in our modern living environment. Although the last hundred years have brought great advances in science and technology, our current lifestyles as affected by our environment continue to be problematic. As said by the GWI, our built environment favors driving over biking, sitting over walking, riding in elevators over using the stairs, texting over face-to-face conversations, and screen time over outdoor recreation. Although the longevity of human life has increased throughout the centuries, more and more people nowadays continue to live lonely, unhealthy, and unhappy lifestyles.
The wellness lifestyle real estate movement
Wellness lifestyle real estate is a new movement with a great potential to help address today's health risks and challenges. It demonstrates people's wellness as incorporated in the conception, design, creation, and redevelopment of our homes and neighborhoods. Return on Wellness (ROW) is a new concept that measures how we make the most out of our homes in terms of wellness as we look to the future of this movement and the smarter use of technologies and innovations in the development of our homes.
The definitions and core principles of the wellness lifestyle real estate movement
According to the GWI, wellness lifestyle real estate is defined as "homes that are proactively designed and built to support the holistic health of their residents". On the other hand, GWI defines wellness community as "a group of people living in close proximity who share common goals, interests, and experiences in proactively pursuing wellness across its many dimensions; it can be rooted in a purpose-built physical space or can be cultivated around shared culture or social networks without purpose-built structures".
GWI explains that "the power of wellness lifestyle real estate lies in its potential to foster wellness communities, yet the connection between the two is not automatic". This connection is created requiring a clear intention along with supporting design and operational principles as given by the GWI:
- From “do no harm” to optimizing wellness: Beyond just reacting to “sick buildings,” we must intentionally build homes that help us enhance our health and wellbeing.
- From passive to active wellness: Our built environment should encourage proactive behaviors and habits that drive wellness.
- From hardware to software: Hard infrastructure (“bricks and mortar”) needs supporting policies, management and programming that build social connections and nurture healthy behaviors.
- From “me” to “we”: Create awareness that our individual health and wellbeing is intrinsically linked to our broader environment and the people around us.
The business case for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities
GWI outlined different points which support the business case for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities which are as follows:
- Wellness real estate is a sizable industry poised for rapid growth. Wellness real estate was a $134 billion industry in 2017, growing by 6.4 percent annually since 2015. It is projected to reach $197 billion by 2022.
- Buyers have demonstrated that they are willing to pay more for healthier built environments. Wellness lifestyle real estate developments positioned at the middle/upper ends of the market are achieving home sales price premiums averaging 10–25 percent (but these can range widely from 5 percent to 55 percent). One reason for this premium is that there is not enough supply to meet demand. According to one survey, there are an estimated 1.3 million potential buyers each year in the United States alone for wellness-infused homes and communities.
- The global pipeline of wellness lifestyle real estate projects is constantly growing. There are over 740 wellness lifestyle real estate and community developments built, partially built, or in development around the world, across 34 countries—and this number is growing every day. These include master-planned communities, multifamily housing, urban districts and mixed-use projects, resort/spa-based real estate, and other types of projects.
The wellness case for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities
GWI outlined different points which support the wellness case for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities which are as follows:
- Minimizing environmental impacts on human health: reduce toxic substance exposure, improve sleep, reduce stress, and promote earth-friendly practices.
- Supporting behavior change and healthier lifestyles: encourage movement, active lifestyle, mind-body health, and healthy eating; use nature to improve mental/psychological wellbeing.
- Fostering a sense of place, community and belonging: smart design can encourage social encounters, increase community interactions, and build trust and civic engagement.
Final thoughts on incorporating the concept of wellness and lifestyle in developments
Wellness lifestyle real estate studies have documented several impacts on the lifestyle of dwellers such as an increase in physical activity, reduction in smoking rates, health improvements for asthmatic children, increased social interactions with neighbors, and self-reported feelings of increased safety, good health, and personal well-being.
In this uncertain time, it is still necessary to invest in our physical and mental wellness, and it all starts in the place we consider our sanctuary: our home.
Source:
Global Wellness Institute. (2019, May 14). What is Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate & Communities? https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/what-is-wellness/what-is-wellness-lifestyle-real-estate-communities/