Behaviours &amp; Mindsets

The Neo-Urbanites

Meet the Neo-Urbanites, the citizens renegotiating urban life on their own terms – reclaiming space as a source of wellbeing, forging community ties and expressing identity through the rhythms of life within a metropolis.

The Tech-Resisters: Future:Poll

Published alongside The Future Laboratory’s Tech-Resisters Communities report, this Future:Poll survey of nationally representative audiences across the UK, the US and Australia maps how everyday technology resistance is moving from niche behaviour to mainstream reality.

The Tech-Resisters

Meet the citizens armed with knowledge of addictive design and extraction mechanics, they are rejecting algorithms, embracing analogue alternatives and treating friction as protection.

Identities

Food & Drink

Noma re-opens in Copenhagen with micro-seasons menus

Acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma has re-opened with a new leadership team and a dining format built around 12 monthly micro-seasons, following its Los Angeles residency earlier this year.

Diverging Demographics

Stat: Young people in England are facing a loneliness crisis

One in 20 young people aged 16–21 in England now report having no close friends at all, up from one in 100 in 2014 – a fivefold increase in a decade, according to a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Douglas House by Note Design Studio for The Office Group, UK

US business school rebuilds its curriculum around AI and human intelligence

As Gen Z graduates grow increasingly concerned that AI will limit their career prospects, the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School is taking a different approach: redesigning business education around AI.

On x POST ARCHIVE FACTION (PAF), The Evolution of CURRENT FORM, Global

Fashion

On and PAF bring land art and trail running together in Tenerife

Swiss activewear brand On has commissioned South African land artist Strijdom van der Merwe to create a 50-metre trail running loop in Tenerife’s Poris Desert as the backdrop for Current Form 5.0, the latest chapter of its collaboration with Korean sportswear label PAF.

Home & Family

Maternal Gaze

As birth rates fall and parenting becomes a marker of privilege, fashion imagery is bringing maternal identity into sharper cultural focus – reframing motherhood as visible, complex and creatively generative.

CES 2026: Home Tech with Heart

From robo-companions to ambient audio and at-home longevity tools, CES 2026 signalled a shift towards emotionally intelligent home technologies designed to blend seamlessly into everyday life.

Ikea rebuilds its smart home range around accessibility

Ikea is accelerating its smart home ambitions with the launch of 21 new Matter-compatible products – a line-up spanning lighting, sensors and control devices.

Generations Now and Next

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Report

Generations Now and Next

From Baby Boomers and Gen X to Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, uncover what unites and divides consumers across generations.

Generation Beta

Tin Can launches a landline-style phone for kids

Seattle-based designers Chet Kittleson, Max Blumen and Graeme Davies have launched Tin Can, a landline-style phone designed to give children greater independence without exposing them to the distractions and risks associated with smartphones.

Introducing Gen Beta

2025 marks the start of Generation Beta – but it’s the parenting styles, values and cultural outlooks of Millennials and Gen Z that will define this new cohort.

Stat: UK life expectancy rises with more people set to reach 100

According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), boys born in the UK in 2023 can expect to live an average of 86.7 years, while girls are projected to reach 90.

Neo-education Market

With Gen Alpha at prime schooling age, we are witnessing rapid change in education systems, from AI-powered learning to culturally nuanced curriculums.

Generation Alpha

Stat: Gen Alpha teens are running brand discovery in the family home

A new survey of 1,500 respondents and 25 brands by HarrisX and Allison Worldwide finds that 62% of what parents buy for their Gen Alpha children starts with the teen requesting the brand by name – rising to 67% for teen girls.

Tesco Mobile Partners with Kurupt FM's MC Grindah for 'Bare Expectations' Reading, UK

Tesco Mobile rewrites Great Expectations in teen slang

Tesco Mobile has commissioned Bare Expectations, an audiobook adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations translated into Gen Alpha slang, designed to help parents decode the language their children use online.

Culture & Media

Cuqui launches print magazine to reconnect teens beyond the algorithm

New youth media brand Cuqui is launching a monthly print magazine and limited-edition journal aimed at teenagers seeking an alternative to algorithm-led social media.

Gen Z

Design

The Future Laboratory discusses functional health at London Packaging Week

On 17 September 2026, The Future Laboratory’s chief creative officer Chris Sanderson took to the stage at London Packaging Week. He took part in the panel Meet the new consumer: packaging for the age of functional health, hosted by Jono Wylie, strategy director at Eatbigfish.

Retail

China pilot turns cinema tickets into city commerce passes

China – The National Film Administration and Ministry of Commerce in China have selected 16 cities and districts for a three-year ‘film-plus’ consumption pilot designed to grow moviegoing, expand film-related spending and connect film creativity with local economies.

Climate Adaptation and Resource Scarcity

Stat: Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds

A new study warns that ‘feedback loops’ – nature-based events that add to global warming – are amplifying the climate crisis beyond what current models account for.

Travel & Hospitality

Not A Hotel unveils giant Poké Ball guest room in Japan

Hotelier Not A Hotel has revealed a three-metre-diameter guest room shaped like a giant Poké Ball, set on a lakeside in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido.

Millennials

The Tech-Resisters: Future:Poll

The Tech-Resisters

Meet the citizens armed with knowledge of addictive design and extraction mechanics, they are rejecting algorithms, embracing analogue alternatives and treating friction as protection.

Culture & Media

Stat: Gen Z lead cinema’s post-streaming revival

Fears of cinema’s decline are being challenged as Gen Z emerge as its most engaged audience.

Generation X

Design

The Future Laboratory discusses functional health at London Packaging Week

Retail

China pilot turns cinema tickets into city commerce passes

Climate Adaptation and Resource Scarcity

Stat: Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds

A new study warns that ‘feedback loops’ – nature-based events that add to global warming – are amplifying the climate crisis beyond what current models account for.

Travel & Hospitality

Not A Hotel unveils giant Poké Ball guest room in Japan

Hotelier Not A Hotel has revealed a three-metre-diameter guest room shaped like a giant Poké Ball, set on a lakeside in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido.

Generation Jones

Why a positive attitude to ageing might be a powerful longevity tool

The narrative that later life is defined by inevitable cognitive and physical decline is being challenged.

Reframing Ageing

Jacynth Bassett, founder and CEO of global consultancy, community and campaign Ageism Is Never In Style, sits down with The Future Laboratory co-founder Martin Raymond to discuss reframing the anti-ageism narrative.

Podcast: Jacynth Bassett on Reframing Ageing

In the latest episode of Back to the F\*\*kture! Jacynth Bassett, founder and CEO of global consultancy, community and campaign Ageism Is Never In Style, joins The Future Laboratory co-founder Martin Raymond to discuss reframing the anti-ageism narrative.

Boomers

Travel & Hospitality

Stat: How climate awareness is altering travel behaviour

According to Booking.com’s Travel & Sustainability Report, travellers are rethinking where, when and why they travel as extreme weather reshapes holiday planning.

Why a positive attitude to ageing might be a powerful longevity tool

The narrative that later life is defined by inevitable cognitive and physical decline is being challenged.

Stat: America enters its unretirement era

The dream of retirement is slipping out of reach as rising living costs push older Americans back into the workforce.