Urbanites
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
On one hand, Urbanites can be seen as the “Yuppies” of the 21st Century. They are Young, Urban, Professionals (just like those in the 80s), but they are different from Yuppies in that Urbanites have a deep social conscience, no doubt part of their living through the “caring, sharing” 90s as well as the “greedy, selfish” 80s.
On the other hand, Urbanites can be seen as the very opposite of “Chavs” – Urbanites are young, like Chavs, but that’s where the similarities end! Urbanites are educated, upmarket and highly aspirational – the antithesis of Chav values and mindset.
However, leaving Yuppies and Chavs aside for a moment, research at British commuter newspaper Metro has focused on 3 elements of Urbanites that go some way to defining and describing them:
1. Demographics
Urbanites are aged between 18-44, they are full-time working professionals (social grade ABC1) and they are living/working in one the UK’s top 20 urban areas by population i.e. big cities, not small towns. By our calculations, there are 5 million Urbanites in the UK right now.
2. Attitudes
Metro's original qualitative research in 2001 identified Urbanites as having 6 key characteristics: they are time-poor, city-proud, media-literate, brand-centric, trend-sensitive and culturally-aware. They are affluent consumers with an optimistic outlook on life that is very different from those who live in “small town” or rural areas.
3. Motivations
The third element towards a “sociology” and “psychology” of Urbanites is connected to their expectations from life. Through research on the "Urban Life" consumer panel, Metro has crystallised the 10 “Great Expectations” that above all else motivate and drive Urbanites – i.e. what really makes them tick.
These are:
1. Expecting to live a meaningful and experience-rich urban life
2. Expecting to succeed in multiple areas of life (not just career)
3. Expecting to get substantial fulfilment from work (not just cash)
4. Expecting to be at the hub of a large friendship network
5. Expecting the traditional ideal of “true love” in the modern world
6. Expecting to have to “make time” in order to have and enjoy time
7. Expecting to use debt to have what they want, and have it now
8. Expecting to have a progressive government that delivers results
9. Expecting to live in a pleasant “urban village” area of their city
10. Expecting to live a responsible life as an urban consumer
In short, these ten expectations are what is driving the urban youth of the 21st Century in Britain. For more information about Urbanites and these “Great Expectations”, please email adam.joseph@ukmetro.co.uk
