these two people to accomplish the simplest of bodily needs (sleep/bathing/eating) in these cramped spaces. It is laughable and disingenuous of the man in Hong Kong to say the space "moves around me".

Single, fit individuals only need apply...

I made due living in small spaces (with 5 story walk ups!) when I lived in NYC. It is harder living in many
ways and certainly not for the infirm or claustrophobic.

on accommodating people in the minimal space needed for them to comfortably live. Humans, like other animals, become greatly stressed when forced to live in overly confined spaces. Compound these two situations by the millions and you quickly start to see and hear the fissures and cracks of societal stress. This concerted "push" for people to accept ever smaller spaces to 'live' in (there have been at least a dozen posts on DU touting micro-houses, sheds, shipping containers etc. as living spaces) is disturbing.

I would hate living in the city, I have an acre of land and wish I had more, but if people want to live in the city and especially live in the hot spots of the city these are choices they have to make.

might have a dehumanizing and stressful affect on some people. Others are more suited to it.
However, I think some of what we're seeing is also a response to the over-indulgences of a consumer-oriented culture And the overwhelming 'noise' of our information age can also be psychologically stressful leading to a desire for a visually quiet and simplified environment.
Living like monks then becomes very appealing to many.
Whether one living in these kinds of spaces ultimately feels like a prisoner or a monk is an individual thing.

in the 2nd video is entirely filled with CD's.