Gen Yers have swapped suburbia for city life in their version of the American Dream. But with skyrocketing rent costs, shrinking square footage and a lonesome lifestyle, urban living isn’t always easy. Commonspace is a living solution for some of the sore spots of city life.

Social isolation is increasing across both nations and generations, meaning that many countries are facing a 'loneliness epidemic'. Global research has warned that the negative impacts of social isolation are so vast that it's becoming a greater public health problem than obesity.

Nearly three decades since it was launched, the basic and clunky system of Echo, an early-era web forum, remains mostly unchanged, with many of its earliest members – now in their 50s, 60s and 70s – still daily users. How has this bare-bones platform stood the test of time?

Everyone feels a bit lonely from time to time, and research suggests that a lack of social interaction can influence what we buy. A study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests that when people are lonely, they’re more likely to seek out products with faces on.