Prison cells in the United States are usually 70 sq ft and include running water, but generally speaking prisons in the US don't have private cells and its a barrack type situation, so generally amenities like showers, toilets, kitchens, yards, all of that is shared. If you were to look at the military its common for beds to be shared on ships and submarines due to space restrictions.

What I'm getting at is "what is the absolute minimum of personal space that should be considered a human right?" Is it none and we should try to promote communal living spaces or is there an actual number for how much sq ft is a human right? Should everyone have a private toilet/shower/fridge/stove/television/ect?

Is there a line to be drawn on this issue or should no line be drawn? Is personal space something we should be measuring objectively or subjectively?

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    • incontinentiabuttock [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      People who have mobility issues should obviously have different spaces from those who don’t for accessibility reasons.

      Thats a very big issue as to why there should be some kind of minimum amount of space and design standards. Ideally someone in a wheelchair would have no problem accessing any location, that would require apartment design to make room for a wheelchair, that would make things like Murphy beds in an emergency situation bad, it may be hard for a disabled person to move furniture that would block an exit if we are designing every apartment to be as compact as possible. Plus claustrophobia exists.