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Recently, Ingka Shopping Center from Northern Europe released the "2024 Community Life Report" for the first time. The report, through a survey of more than 5,000 people in five countries (including Sweden, Poland, Spain, the United States and China), deeply explores the community experience through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, revealing how people's community needs have changed with the rapid growth of global urbanization and daily life challenges. The report points out that in order to cope with changes, gathering places must continue to adapt, evolve and develop to meet people's needs and wishes-whether emotional or functional needs, or online or offline life needs. For Chinese respondents, in addition to the pursuit of fun, the primary consideration for participating in social activities is the motivation related to identity-getting along with like-minded people and the sense of belonging that can interact and communicate with others. It has become particularly important.

As the leader of gathering experience centers in China, Ingka Shopping Centers has built itself into an emotional bond between consumers and the community. From shopping-based upgrades to "gathering centers" to focusing on people's needs and interpreting "self-evolution", Ingka Shopping Centers strives to ensure that gathering experience centers can provide people with healthier, happier and more sustainable living options, creating a fun and belonging community life experience for Chinese consumers. Ingka Shopping Centers and IKEA Retail belong to the Ingka Group, and its Livat officially entered the Chinese market in 2009. Currently, of the 33 gathering experience centers of Ingka Shopping Centers in 13 key markets around the world, 9 are located in China. Adhering to the vision of "creating a better everyday life for the many people", local Livat is committed to combining local characteristics to create joyful gatherings for the many people and bring positive changes to the earth and society. Since fiscal 2014, local Livat has held a total of 3,911 community events, equivalent to at least one event every day, with more than 500,000 direct participants. Thanks to direct interaction with consumers, Ingka Shopping Center can continue to get closer to consumers and work with everyone in the community to create a healthier, more sustainable, more economical and more attractive life.

Ingka Shopping Center believes that the concept of "community" is formed by the sense of belonging and cohesion inspired by a group of people coming together. 2023 is a year full of changes. People are increasingly relying on the community for stability, support and comfort, and are eager to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude towards life through friendliness, liveliness and collective fun. Therefore, Ingka Shopping Center, which always has curiosity, has been exploring the changes in the community, and then creating a more suitable gathering space according to the needs of consumers in different regions, so that people can not only find what they need here, but also grow, learn, communicate, meet and have fun.

The 2024 Community Life Report points out that most people like to spend fulfilling time outside of their homes, but not every activity they participate in can bring them a sense of community. People are eager to build connections through some new, niche and different activities. Outside of the home, the three most common activities people do with others are shopping, going to restaurants/bars/cafes and getting close to nature. However, there are big differences between different markets. For example, among all countries/regions, China is the most active and Sweden is the least active. The report found that people participate in activities outside of the home mainly because they enjoy it (80%). However, getting entertainment (76%), supporting physical and mental health (74%) and getting away from the tedious daily life (73%) are also the reasons why more people tend to engage in activities outside the home.

In recent years, multifunctional spaces have gradually emerged, and people expect gathering centers to meet the various emotional and functional needs of their communities. The report shows that nearly 1/5 of respondents believe that gathering spaces should be flexible and multifunctional for a variety of activities, while nearly 1/3 of respondents said that both indoor and outdoor spaces should be available. At the same time, people do not want to have to travel long distances to reach gathering spaces. 1/4 of respondents said it is very important for gathering spaces to be physically close to their homes or workplaces, while more than 1/3 of respondents said that the ideal gathering place should have high-quality dining options.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the community and the individual. Only when individuals are healthy can they effectively contribute to community building, and vice versa. A healthy community living environment will promote individual health, forming a virtuous circle.

The future community will integrate online and offline spaces. According to the report survey, more than 1/4 of the respondents prefer online communication, while about 3/4 of the respondents prefer face-to-face communication. In this modern era, both online and offline are indispensable to people. As the proportion of the online world in people's lives becomes larger and larger, the reduction of interpersonal contact and interaction will drive people to pursue more sensory and tactile experiences. In particular, the report pointed out that Generation Z shows a preference for offline social interaction. Although Generation Z grew up with social media, they are more eager to meet people, and 66% of the respondents said this is their preferred way to meet. Although Generation Z is proficient in digital technology, they believe that face-to-face interactions help build trust (65%) and bring more meaningful time together (66%).

Creating a better daily life for the public means that all actions of Ingka Shopping Center must be people-oriented, turning people's dreams into reality, turning hope into possibility, and connecting everyone in the community. In the 15 years since entering China, it has landed in 9 cities including Wuxi, Beijing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Changsha, Nanning, Kunming, Hefei and Xi'an. In the second half of this year, the Shanghai Huiju complex project will be launched, which will also be another powerful layout of Ingka Shopping Center in the Chinese market. Based on a global perspective, Ingka Shopping Center has a deep understanding of the Chinese market, focusing on the needs of "people", and constantly strengthening the customer experience. Aiming at different consumer groups, Huiju has created experiential, immersive and diversified consumption scenarios.