2/ Future Generations

The impact of fifteen years of social media on children and teenagers should be researched to better understand the extended effects of social media and phone use on this demographic. It shapes their world and affects everything from mental health to their societal views and how they interact with the world around them.

Young people’s worldview, which comes to them via social media mixed up with an uncertain future, makes a part of younger generations more conservative. There is a divide between boys and girls. Boys are in general becoming more conservative, influenced by countercultural voices on social media. 

The naming of generations can be a double-edged sword. While it provides a framework for understanding shared experiences, it can also lead to stereotyping and division. As society continues to evolve, the disparity between generations might grow, differences in upbringing and challenges could cause society to become more fractured along lines of wealth, age, and culture.

In conservative societies, the tension between traditional values and progressive social changes often becomes particularly pronounced in debates surrounding immigration, gender equality and women’s rights but also rich and poor, highlighting a deep-rooted resistance to change long-established norms and roles. This friction will define the next decade, as multiple crises will increase tensions in society and encourage people to hold on to the past and be reluctant to change.

Why this matters

Understanding the complex and profound impact of social media on the younger generations.

Denominator/ Urs Fischer

Cube that combines advertisements from 1950 to today, sorted and reinterpreted by artificial intelligence. The imagery reflects pieces of history and memories that are unconsciously recognizable from years of media consumption. See more here

Who’s Raising the Kids/ Susan Linn

Susan Linn examines the profound influence of big tech and business on children’s lives, revealing how they are turned into consumers from a young age and offering strategies for resisting this commercialization to protect and better raise our children. See more here

This Is How We Play Together/ Elmgreen & Dragset

The exhibit features three figures in VR goggles, showing the changing world of play and the role of technology. See more here

African countries have a vital resource that ageing societies are losing: a youthful population. The median age in Africa is nineteen, while the global median age is thirty; in Europe and North America, it is forty-one; in parts of East Asia, such as Japan, it is forty-eight. By 2050, Africa is expected to be home to one-quarter of the global population and one-third of people aged fifteen to twenty-four. By the 2040s, Africa will account for two out of every five children born on the planet. 

The broader economic and social context in which modern youth grow up is important. Having a youthful population presents both opportunities and challenges. Providing this young and fast-growing population with jobs, housing, education, healthcare, good nutrition, connectivity and security are major challenges.

The interplay of East and West, North and South influences will be a driving force in youth culture. Popular culture is likely to stem from multiple origins due to global connectivity. Young people integrate and translate diverse perspectives, practices, and values into their daily lives, influencing each other. Countries with large youth populations such as India, China, Indonesia and Africa are becoming larger participants and producers of global culture, influencing narratives and preferences worldwide. 

Why this matters

Young, globally interconnected regions will shape a diverse, dynamic future culture and be a source of influence.

Supa Team 4/ Netflix

First original animated series from South Africa that features four teen girls living in the neo-futuristic African city of Lusaka. Iwájú on Disney Plus is another example. See more here and here

Olympic opening ceremony performance/ Aya Nakamura

Nakamura’s possible Olympics appearance has sparked a racism controversy over her performing a song by Edith Piaf during the opening ceremony. Read more here

The landscape of childhood and adolescence is changing, marked by what is called an extension of youth. The boundaries of adolescence are expanding into what was traditionally considered adulthood. This shift is influenced by multiple factors, including advancements in technology, safety and evolving cultural norms. In Western societies, young people spend more years in education and delay or no longer pursue traditional routes such as career, a house, relationships, marriage or having children. This is driven by the quest for autonomy and by economic circumstances, including a lack of affordable housing.

In the UK a third of children are living in poverty, in the state of New York this is one in five children. Children who had experienced persistent poverty were more than twice as likely to suffer emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Young people seem to be more responsible and mature than previous generations. They are better educated and have been exposed to a world of content. Smoking, binge drinking, and teenage pregnancy are now at half the levels of fifteen years ago. They value sex-positivity, talk about polyamory, but are having less sex. They are rejecting the pill as birth control because of their heightened awareness around its side effects on mood and body. They are said to be more risk averse, having had to deal with many serious problems.

Growing up is less about adhering to a set timeline of life events and more about navigating an uncertain world where personal independence and standing on one’s own feet are intertwined with broader social and economic challenges rather than choice, freedom and self-determination.

Why this matters

The path of life of young people differs from the generations before them. 

The Denial/Sepand Danesh

Stacked cube-like characters are placed in a corner, without a floor or a ceiling, to bring awareness to the condition of being trapped and wanting to escape. See more here

Slowdown/ Danny Dorling

Graph that shows the slowdown of the rise in the total world population. It shows a curved line that slows down from 1970 and curbs at 1990. In 2100 the growth rate is speculated to be back at the levels of 1900. See more here

Living Room/ Goud van Noord

Living room on a retail street in Rotterdam invites people to come in if they need help or support, which can range from food to homework assistance. Read more here

Roommates/ Magnus Holmes

Series of photographs that examine platonic relationships which stem from people sharing a common space. See more here

The “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and gradually became replaced by the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. Children and adolescents aged eight to eighteen spend on average six hours and fifty-nine minutes per day on their mobile devices. Childhood is the creative nerve centre of what it means to be human. It is when we are at our most exploratory and receptive, with ninety per cent of brain development occurring in our early years. Learning through sensory, experimental play is central to this process. Play helps children develop physical and social-emotional skills, as well as language and problem-solving.

The lack of physical activity and face-to-face communication associated with online engagement can potentially hinder the development of important social and emotional skills. In their increasingly busy lives, children may experience loneliness and miss crucial face-to-face interactions, and find it difficult to form lasting friendships. There are discussions about the right age children should own a phone. Apart from distraction, the content they see unsupervised prevents them from growing up at their own pace. 

Gaming is the defining entertainment medium of our time. Online gaming and communities offer new forms of freedom, self-expression and identity formation, challenging conventional notions of play and interaction. They are creating their own world, characters and environments, their idea of play is creating. Digital tools are not just passive mediums for consumption, but powerful instruments for creation, offering new ways for young people to express themselves. This kind of creative expression can be particularly empowering, as it provides young people with a platform to share their perspectives and ideas.

Why this matters

While children today exhibit autonomy and creativity through digital means, they might miss out on the vital developmental that traditional play offers.

The Nature of the Game/ Francis Alÿs

Alÿs elevates children’s games to a universal paradigm. He documents children playing all over the world, from Paris and Mexico City to the Yezidi refugee camp Sharya in Iraq. See more here

Bringing Home to The Unknown/ POoR Collective

POoR (Power Out of Restriction) co-designed a park hang-out together with local youths, utilising their practical input and insights. Read more here

Gamers by Region/ Statista

Asia has more than 2x more gamers than any other region (1.48 billion). In fact, Asia has more active gamers than Europe, Latin America, and North America combined (1.42 billion). Read more here

Sports in Indonesia/ Chaideer Mahyuddin

Culture has a big influence in minimizing the opportunities in female sports with the main reason of suitability of sports from a gender perspective. Read more here

The Coddling of the American Mind/ Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explore how the rise in campus unease, mental health issues, and educational challenges stem from three harmful ideas embedded in American culture and education, leading to a culture of safetyism that hinders the development and autonomy of young people, set against a backdrop of changing social dynamics, parenting styles and political polarization.

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Youth Quake/ Edward Paice

In the last 50 years, Africa has experienced unprecedented population growth. Edward Paice offers a detailed analysis of this demographic shift, moving beyond simplistic optimism or pessimism to explore the complex implications of Africa's 'youthquake' for both the continent and the world.

How Population Change Will Transform Our World/ Sarah Harper

This book explores the future of global populations, debunking myths like unstoppable growth and climate-driven mass migration, and highlights the key issues facing us in the coming decades, including the demographic inertia in Europe, demographic dividend in Asia, high fertility and mortality in Africa, the youth bulge in the Middle East, and the balancing act of migration in the Americas.

Made in Asia-America/ Christopher B. Patterson & Tara Fickle

Shifting away from a Eurocentric, white, masculinist take on gaming, this book focuses on minority and queer experiences in gaming and wants to address the world-making activities of all digital media, especially in games.

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Introduction Vision 2026

The Shifts

01/ Archive to the Future

01/ Strategy

01/ Mindset

01/ Colour

01/ Material

02/ Future Generations

02/ Strategy

02/ Mindset

02/ Colour

02/ Material