Over the past decade, several global trends have combined to drive noticeable shifts in how people live. These include the increasing urbanisation of global populations; the introduction of artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT devices; environmental factors; population growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America; and the rising purchasing power of the middle classes within developing countries. A 2015 United Nations (UN) report noted that 68 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050, up from 55 per cent today. The research showed that the gradual shift of populations from rural to urban areas, combined with population growth, will see an additional 2.5 billion people living in cities by 2050.