How much space do we need?

A friend fowarded this video to me about a guy living in a tiny house and it got me thinking- how much space do we need - my conclusion is not a lot. I've lived in a number of different cities over the past years with vastly different housing options. In the past, choosing a housing option has been a function of my income * housing costs * safety. But I have found that having a bigger house or apartment means that I tend to buy more stuff - nature abhors a vacuum.

When I first lived in Montreal in the 80s, rental apartments were dirt cheap. By the time I left they were getting a little more expensive. My last place in Montreal was a 3 and 1/2 (trois et demi) with a garden. Next was upstate NY were rents were so much cheaper so I moved into larger places and ended up buying some furniture to fill up those spaces.

Next stop was NYC - I had to get rid of a lot of the "stuff" I had accumulated because I could only afford a studio. Living there I realized that I don't need that much space. What I do need is a room of my own (if sharing), ready access to outdoors via a balcony or a backyard and enough space to accomadate visitors (think blow up mattresses). And on the nice to have side is separate sleeping and kitchen areas.