ct I: The Boom

Once upon a time, in the bustling marketplace of shared experiences, coliving communities thrived. Picture vibrant communal spaces—the aroma of international cuisines, late-night conversations echoing through the hallways, and people from diverse backgrounds cooking together. The coliving sector rode the coattails of coworking’s success, growing exponentially across the globe. Life was a lively dance, and coliving was the star.

Act II: The Dramatic Plot Twist

Enter Covid-19, stage left. Suddenly, our cozy coliving communities faced a challenge worthy of a blockbuster movie. The virus turned our communal spaces into ghost towns. Kitchens, once alive with culinary adventures, stood empty. Social distancing guidelines became our new choreography, and hand sanitizing stations popped up like mushrooms after rain. It was a dance-off between safety and sociability, and coliving had to pirouette its way through uncertainty.

The Short-Term Survival Strategy

Coliving operators closed communal spaces, limited kitchen capacity, and sanitized everything. Imagine a coliving building doing the cha-cha with disinfectant wipes. It was like a suspenseful thriller—would coliving survive the pandemic plot twist?

Act III: The Unexpected Twist

The Skeptics, oh, they were loud. They predicted the demise of coliving. “It’s over,” they said, shaking their heads. But guess what? They were about as accurate as a weather app during a monsoon. The pandemic didn’t kill coliving; it just gave it a makeover.

Enter the Remote Work Era, spotlight on! Offices shuttered, and suddenly, millions discovered the joys of working from anywhere. Facebook and Twitter, those tech giants, decided remote work wasn’t just a fling—it was a long-term commitment. And coliving? It became the VIP section of this new lifestyle club.

Picture This

A digital nomad, laptop in hand, sipping coffee in a coliving space overlooking Bali’s rice terraces. Or a writer, penning her novel in a Barcelona coliving loft, fueled by tapas and inspiration. Coliving became the housing equivalent of a passport stamp—a gateway to slow travel and the nomadic life.

Fast-Forward

Vaccination rates climb, borders creak open, and social distancing loosens its grip. Industry analysts lean back in their ergonomic chairs, predicting sustained demand for coliving. Asia’s megacities hum with anticipation, and Singapore’s coliving occupancy rates? Already at a cool 90%.

So, dear pandemic, you didn’t break coliving. You just made it more resilient, more adaptable—a phoenix rising from the ashes of uncertainty. And as the world spins, coliving remains the backdrop for stories yet untold.

Contact; Bert Bykes