The Emerging Technology Paradox that will shape the Future of Spaces

Technology, specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI), will transform how we live, work, and move through cities and how we as humans experience next generation spaces — from predictive transit systems to smart workplaces that can anticipate our every desired need.

Advancing technology’s impact upon our day-to-day life and work experience is becoming more and more dominant and ever-present across all our daily experiences. Yet at the same time, a growing number of consumers are beginning to seek technology‐free spaces to escape what feels like a continuous “toxic digital overload” which can create negative and stressful undesirable outcomes.

This tension between rapid technological advancement within all our environments and mounting human technology fatigue is reshaping what people will come to expect from their communities and workplaces. This technology paradox leaves occupiers, investors, and developers with the growing challenge of how to reimagine future technology-enabled spaces to meet the “paradoxical” nature of consumer expectations and evolving consumer demands for the future.

A new design mandate

When we look at consumers’ needs, we’re now seeing that consumers desire technology to be integrated seamlessly into spaces in a way that enhances human connection and the experiential value of space.

Meeting this integrated technology expectation will require leaders to rethink how they plan, build, and operate future spaces, putting human-centered experience, community, convenience, and wellbeing at the core of every decision.

In a recent report from JLL, based on a survey of 12,000 consumers across 19 markets and 64 cities worldwide, 60% of respondents like to visit technology‑free spaces for a digital detox, 72% believe cities should be digitally enabled, and 67% enjoy using the latest technologies in daily life.

This suggests consumers are not against technology – they simply want the pervasive AI and digital systems to work quietly and invisibly in the background, removing any friction or “environmental technology related stressors” from any space experience.

This shift in consumer perspectives is profound. The study revealed how family-friendly environments, for instance, ranked higher in 2025 than they did in 2024, indicating a greater focus for more multi-generational inclusive spaces for all five generations.

Traditional differentiators, including technology and social media appeal, have also declined in importance, as consumers increasingly value practical convenience with activity-based experiences that offer wellbeing over status-driven features.

What’s driving the shift in urban expectations

Today, consumers expect more from the places where they live and work. They want environments that surprise, delight, and connect them to others, which is a shift that’s driving interest to such urban concepts as the “15‑minute city,” where communal amenities are accessible within a short walk or bike ride.

When implemented well, AI can make these experiences seamless, from curating local events to managing crowd flow within public spaces, thus giving developers the tools to create human-centric districts that feel vibrant and socially connected to every day personal lifestyle preferences.

However, the experiential preferences do vary sharply by generation. Younger generational cohorts are more open to immersive, fully tech-enabled social spaces, while older generations prioritize sustainability with greater personal and social connection. This generational divide points to a clear design directive: balance visible tech-innovation with invisible comfort and seamless “quiet” service delivery via technology to create spaces that resonate across all age groups.

For many, wellness has also moved from a “nice‑to‑have” to a non‑negotiable expectation. Our research found that 71% of consumers agree on the importance of living in a healthy city. Consumers increasingly demand cities that integrate nature, clean air, and healthy environments that support mental, social and physical wellbeing.

AI can play a quiet but powerful role here – helping to monitor indoor air quality, optimize lighting for circadian rhythms, and maintain green spaces efficiently. For example, at LaSalle Investment Management’s London property, AI‑driven climate systems learn daily patterns and adjust heating or cooling before tenants even notice, improving comfort while reducing energy use.

Perhaps the most transformative shift is the rise of greater personalization for space. People now expect the places they spend their time in (office, homes, etc.) to reflect their values and adapt to their personalized needs on an ongoing evolving basis.

This means moving beyond marketing into spatial design: workplaces that continuously adjust to individual work styles and life styles – retail environments that curate shopping experiences based upon previous consumer visits, and residential communities that embody shared social values and communal lifestyle expectations.

AI can support personalization through “invisible concierge systems” that anticipate needs without constant prompts, using patterns and feedback to fine‑tune personalized amenities and layouts, so that spaces feel naturally attuned to the people using them.

Personalization helps to build trust, and loyalty grows when spaces possess the intelligence to remember people’s preferences. Both loyalty and trust help to build the social fabric of local communities and to further ensure strong communal and social value.

When experience, wellness, and personalization all converge, these factors amplify each other, turning a good space into one that people will actively seek out and return to time and time again.

Imagine a walkable neighborhood where vibrant public spaces host community events (experience), tree‑lined streets and green courtyards improve air quality (wellness), as AI quietly adapts lighting, temperature, and services to meet individual preferences and human needs (personalization).

Within these highly desirable places, technology disappears into the background and it becomes invisible and what stands out is the life experience that is happening with greater “delightful” human-centric outcomes.

Avoiding tech overload

As AI continues to grow as key to the enablement of urban design experience – the very same consumers who strongly embrace digital innovation – many will reject environmental technologies if these tech-enabled spaces make their life experience more complicated and “stressful” in terms of the overall environmental experience.

For real estate leaders, this presents both a challenge and opportunity; if organized properly, AI can help to meet evolving personalized customer expectations and help to better manage and minimize the human fatigue associated with poorly designed environmental technology systems.

To avoid tech overload, fatigue and stress, organizations should integrate experience designers into the real estate development process from the very outset, invest in adaptable infrastructure systems with flexible modular layouts. Next generation urban planners must work to ensure that new real estate developments will enhance experiential, social and community networks.

With an integrated approach, success should not only be measured by increased foot traffic or retail revenue but in terms of enhanced human connection, social value, health and wellness, and community building and trust.

Designing for the Future

The next five years will be a proving ground, for those organizations and development teams that can design and deploy effective integrated technology that will be seamlessly intelligent to create desirable human-centric experiential outcomes. The winners will be the places where the AI disappears into the fabric of daily life, felt only in the ease of moving through any public or private space while experiencing the true vibrancy of such spaces.

The cities with spaces that get this balance right will set a new standard for urban life. Technology won’t be the primary headline; human-centered experiential outcomes that deliver “Human Delight” will become the primary focus.