There have been numerous housing usage issues in modern society, most of which revolve around house design. The various housing usage issues in modern society include technological, cultural, social, public, environmental, economic, and education issues. Generally, there is a housing shortage to cater to society’s various needs. Discussions have erupted on the issue of converting hotel rooms into rental homes to solve the housing shortage among the people. However, the issue of converting hotel rooms into rental homes needs to be researched to identify its efficacy in solving the housing shortage in modern society. This paper explores three topics options; ‘converting hotel rooms into rental micro-homes,’ ‘Repurpose hotels into a shelter,’ and ‘Environmental learning center.’ The paper also entails the selection of the most suitable topic, among the three discussed topics, to be researched regarding housing usage issues in modern society.
Topic Options
Converting Hotel Rooms into Rental Micro homes
The issue of converting hotel rooms into rental micro-homes has become prevalent in modern society due to various issues. The first issue revolves around the social aspect of life. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the abandonment of most hotels in the United States because of the pandemic’s containment measures that mostly affected the hotel and hospitality industry. Most hotels were forced to shut down to avoid gathering people that would increase the spreading of the diseases. As a result, most hotel rooms remained vacant, which forced investors in the hotel industry to think of an alternative way of using the vacant hotel rooms to benefit financially (Horton, 2021). There was also the social issue of homelessness caused by drug and substance use, especially among the youth.
The hotel rooms could be turned into micro rental homes to cater to the rising cases of homelessness in society. Additionally, the vacant hotel rooms could be turned into smart homes due to the increased technology use in the current Century. Investors have been pondering how to turn the hotel rooms into more profitable investments that will not be affected by global pandemics. The hotel rooms could also be turned into education centers to cater to the increasing demand for learning centers that adhere to the Covid-19 containment measures (Horton, 2021). There is also the issue of immigration increase in the United States, which persuades investors in the hotel industry to think of converting the hotel rooms into micro rental homes to cater to the increasing house demands in the country.
Repurposing a Hotel into a Shelter
The hotel industry was the most adversely affected industry by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many hotels and tourist attraction centers were completely shut down during the pandemic. Many investors in the industry had to think of alternative ways of using the hotel rooms and converting them into profitable projects to avoid incurring losses. There are many options that the hotel industry could be turned into in order to avert the losses being incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The hotel industries could be turned into shelters for the homeless as they await further guidelines and directions from the government. Therefore, the investors in the hotel industry could consider converting some of the hotel rooms into shelters to cater to the homeless and immigrants (Gibas & Nyklová, 2019). The hotel rooms could also be converted into affordable houses and apartments, which will assist the government in ensuring the issue of house shortage in the United States is fully solved.
The vacant hotel rooms could also be turned into public health facilities, community centers, and commercial spaces to enhance the well-being of the people in the country. Since most of the hotel rooms have remained vacant since the time Covid-19 hit the world. In order to conserve the environment by reducing the cutting down of trees to provide construction materials, the hotel industry could be used to cater to the housing needs in various sectors (Gibas & Nyklová, 2019). However, the topic of repurposing hotel rooms into shelters needs to be further researched to determine its efficacy.
Environmental Learning Center
The need for environmental education has become paramount in modern society. People need to be more educated on how to conserve the environment for future generations. Therefore, the hotel rooms can be converted into learning centers to educate the people on the ways of conserving the environment. As people acquire education on environmental conservation, various forms of pollution will be reduced, and natural habitats will be conserved for living organisms. Vacant hotel rooms could be turned into recycling centers, which will help conserve the environment and reduce the various forms of pollution. Education on environmental conservation is the right way in a modern society characterized by heightened pollution and environmental degradation (Ardoin & Heimlich, 2021). Education on environmental conservation ought to begin at the community level so that every community member is fully acquainted with the techniques and operations needed in modern society to conserve the environment.
The many hotel rooms that have remained vacant due to the Covid-19 pandemic should be used by the government to set up learning centers on various issues that affect the environment. The learning centers will equip people with skills and knowledge of using technology to develop eco-friendly energy sources to conserve the environment. Besides, the environmental learning centers will ensure that natural habitats are conserved to revive the tourism industry (Ardoin & Heimlich, 2021). Once the tourism industry is revived, the economy and the financial status of the people will be positively impacted. Further research on this topic will establish the appropriate ways of approaching the issue of converting hotel rooms into environmental learning centers.
References
Ardoin, N. M., & Heimlich, J. E. (2021). Environmental learning in everyday life: foundations of meaning and a context for change. Environmental Education Research, 27(12), 1681-1699.
Gibas, P., & Nyklová, B. (2019). Staying in a fallout shelter: exploring ostalgia through post-socialist heterotopia. cultural geographies, 26(4), 519-526.
Horton, A. (2021). Liquid home? Financialisation of the built environment in the UK’s “hotel‐style” care homes. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46(1), 179-192.