Changing demographics

The upgrading of consumption in China means there are unprecedented opportunities on the horizon based on people's preference for intelligent, sustainable and tailor-made housing.

Building more internet-connected and smart homes will play a vital role in developing digital cities as proposed in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), Yuan said.

"As the aging population continues to grow, attempts to explore elderly oriented technologies will need more proactive guidance to meet the changing demographics," he said.

Brodie said one development trend will be the building of efficient residential buildings with low energy and water use via best-practice design, the optimum choice of materials, and the use of high-tech sensors, devices and software. The use of 3D printing and prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction will result in speedier, more cost effective and efficient high-quality customized construction, Brodie said.

"Mature residential housing communities will be regenerated to improve residents' living conditions and wellness and well-being… The upgrading of mature community housing in the future in China will focus on a more comprehensive transformation of 'hardware' and 'software' features as well as on 'case-by-case' design," he added.

"The supply of residential housing in the future may well need to be adapted to a smaller family/household size as many young people are choosing to live independently before marriage, instead of with their parents."

The upgrading of housing in residential communities, with better healthcare services and elderly friendly design, will become more evident and more popular in the future, Brodie said.