Why are so many developers starting to conduct research on pets?

Have you noticed a distinct obvious change recently: the number of pet owners is growing, and the real estate industry has begun to conduct in-depth research on pet-related demands. Quite a few projects have started to formally integrate pets into the design of properties and communities. For instance, China Resources Land has built a 300-square-meter pet-friendly space named Paw Swing Camp.

The first landing project of China Resources Land's Paw Swing Camp, source: China Resources Land official WeChat account. Through the division of different functional zones and relatively flexible moving lines, pets are granted sufficient free space to play in the community.

The play zoning and moving line of Paw Swing Camp, source: China Resources Land official WeChat account. In addition, the China Merchants Zhenshen residence project has made a special design for pets in elevators: a dedicated pet button, which allows people waiting outside the elevator to know in advance that there are pets inside the car. This provides an extra layer of choice and preparation for people who are afraid of pets or allergic to pets.

Real scene of the pet button in the elevator of China Merchants Zhenshen project, source: China Merchants Shekou. These seemingly trivial product details point to a clear trend behind them: pets are evolving from family members to the center of family life. They begin to influence the travel, consumption and even housing choices of the whole family.

We also specifically checked relevant data. The *JD 2026 Consumption Observation on Human-Pet Co-living* based on a survey of 3000 pet owners shows that 83.9% of respondents will take the living characteristics of pets into consideration when renting, buying or renovating a house; 32.4% of the respondents said that the design of their entire home in the future will be planned in line with the mode of human-pet cohabitation. This is no longer a niche demand.

As more and more families start to bring pets into their housing decision-making process, the real estate industry is also facing a problem that was rarely taken seriously in the past: do we need to consider pets' preferences when selling houses? Today, let's take a look at those excellent pet-friendly communities in China, and see how they integrate pet-friendliness into the community from pet facilities, community space to daily operation.

01

Luxelakes, splitting pet-friendliness into a complete set of community life systems.

As we all know, Luxelakes is a representative ecological community of park city in China. The large area of greenery, lakes and open spaces itself provides extremely good living conditions for pet owners. But what is really interesting is not just "abundant greenery". There are 24 places marked by the official of Luxelakes as pet-friendly and suitable for playing.

Pet-friendly map of Luxelakes, source: Luxelakes official WeChat account. These 24 places not only provide exclusive dog-walking routes in many parks, but also include the CPI commercial block, so that pet owners can dress up their pets and attract the attention of passers-by while shopping. You don't have to worry about getting tired after walking, the water points on the roadside take care of the needs of both people and pets. There are not only drinking points for pets, but also direct drinking water for humans, and the hand sink next to it is convenient for pet owners to clean up at any time. The hand-painted "parking spots" for dogs are very intuitive, and the dog tethering posts allow owners to drink water without worrying about pets running around.

Real scene of the pet drinking point in Luxelakes. The cleaning problem that most pet owners worry about the most has also been considered in advance here. There is a separate small corner in the grass, paved with cobblestones, equipped with pet cleaning spray guns and paper towels. When pets get dirty and need simple cleaning during shopping, you don't have to look for a special place, you can solve it conveniently in the commercial street.

Real scene of the pet toilet in Luxelakes. Even the dog tethering posts on the roadside have been carefully designed. Dogs can see the dog rest station within their sight, while owners can look up and see the well-designed English signs next to them.

Real scene of the pet rest station in Luxelakes. These details are actually solving a very specific problem: what kind of troubles will pet owners encounter when living with their pets? What Luxelakes has done is not just adding several pet facilities, but disassembling the whole set of life scenarios of pet-owning families. Walking, resting, drinking, using the toilet, socializing, consuming, and even how to maintain an appropriate distance between humans and pets, all are incorporated into the community design.

In addition, the leading position of Luxelakes in pet-friendliness is also reflected in that it has transformed the real demands of pets into a set of long-term implementable standards for the community. The smooth promotion of all these measures does not only rely on the developer. Luxelakes residents are another key factor to promote the community to achieve pet-friendliness. Residents spontaneously form volunteer teams, and regularly submit proposals to the Luxelakes Community Development Foundation around issues such as civilized pet raising and harmonious human-pet coexistence.

Human-pet Harmony Volunteer Team of Luxelakes. This community model also makes more pet owners become part of the force to promote the community to a better life. As a result, pet-friendliness has gradually changed from a project label to a lifestyle that the whole community participates in together. This is the really interesting part of Luxelakes: the developer does not arrange everything for the owners, but the community itself gradually forms the rules for humans and pets to live together.

02

Aranya, turning pet raising into a new consumption scenario.

If Luxelakes solves the problem of how to raise pets in the community, what Aranya solves is another matter: how to drive the pet economy. Here, pet-friendliness has become a new consumption scenario. From accommodation to catering, from snacks to peripheral products, no matter what furry kids like or what their owners like, you can make one-stop choices here.

Aranya has a special hotel that allows pets to check in — The Dog Hotel. From accommodation services to architectural details, pets are taken as real occupants into consideration. For example, the exterior wall of the building uses matte transparent polyurea waterproof coating, which can reduce the impact of dog urine.

Real scene of the facade of The Dog Hotel, source: Aranya official WeChat account. The height-width ratio of the stairs adopts the relatively gentle specification of commercial building stairs, making it easier for dogs with inconvenient legs and feet to go up and down.

Real scene of the steps in the room of The Dog Hotel, source: Aranya official WeChat account. Such a hotel specially designed for pets perfectly solves the pet accommodation problem in cultural tourism projects.

In addition to accommodation, you will find that the diet of pets is also well considered. It is not just simple pet snacks, but some restaurants and bakeries have customized mini-sized food that pets can eat. For example, at the Begl bagel shop, you can see special dog bagels prepared for dogs in the queuing area.

Free dog bagels in Begl bagel shop. A seemingly tiny product detail may become a reason for pet-owning families to share actively, and also make online communication naturally convert into offline passenger flow.

Screenshot of search results for Aranya dog bagels on Xiaohongshu. The newly opened pet lifestyle collection store PAW HUB further combines pet consumption with vacation scenarios. The first floor is mainly pet food, toys, snacks and other products, gathering a number of niche brands.

Shelves on the first floor of PAW HUB, source: official WeChat account. The second floor further extends to the lifestyle of human-pet symbiosis, extending the consumption scope from "pets" to the "human + pet" family relationship. What they sell is no longer just pet supplies, but a complete lifestyle.

Shelves on the second floor of PAW HUB, source: official WeChat account. In addition to various surprises prepared for pets, there is also a particularly interesting featured consumption scenario. In many shops in Aranya, you can see all kinds of pendants, dolls and peripheral products related to pets, and you can even find products that look very similar to your own dog.

Dog pendants and ornaments in Tagi store. For pet-owning families, this kind of consumption decision is actually very simple: I love my pet, so I am willing to pay for things related to it. You will find that in Aranya, the pet economy has gradually formed its own complete consumption system. Pets are no longer just variables that need to be managed, but have begun to become important participants that affect the consumption decisions of tourists and owners.

It is for this reason that during our interviews, many owners reported that they chose to buy property here for the sake of their pets. This is actually a noteworthy change in cultural tourism projects: pets are connecting the originally scattered consumption scenarios to form a complete consumption chain. This consumption chain can just cover part of the daily operation cost of cultural tourism projects. From this perspective, pet-friendliness and the operation of cultural tourism projects have formed a relatively natural connection. How to maximize the strengthening of this connection is also a direction that cultural tourism projects can think about in the future.

03

The Pans, treating pets as family members in design consideration.

After talking about pet supporting facilities and pet consumption, let's look at a more life-oriented case: Shanghai The Pans.

The Pans is different from many large communities. It was originally an ancient old town. After Shui On Group acquired this plot, it renewed the original space, forming a living scenario that combines ancient town commerce, communities and public space. The commercial street is crowded with people every day, but the adjacent community still maintains a relatively quiet living state. The green space and rivers naturally form a dynamic and static zoning.

Moving line zoning map of The Pans. The large park green space on the periphery itself provides a very good activity space for pets. But what makes people really impressed by the pet-friendliness of The Pans is not only reflected in the green space, but also in the inner commercial street. Because it treats pets as family members and directly integrates them into daily life.

When you go out with a dog, you don't need to push a stroller or hold it in your arms, you can walk freely in and out with a leash. There is no restriction that pets cannot enter as in traditional shopping malls. The design of the camping restaurant also solves the embarrassment of many pet-owning families when eating out: humans can have meals, and pets can stay by their side at the same time.

Scene of humans and pets having meals at the camping restaurant of The Pans, source: CAMP.33 official WeChat account. Pet owners enjoy the consumption choices in the business district, and dogs can also move around outdoors. No one needs to compromise. Even the cruise ships in the ancient town can be experienced by pets together.

Scene of pets taking cruise ship at The Pans, source: Shanghai The Pans official WeChat account. Around this lifestyle, The Pans also builds outdoor life festivals for pet-owning families, organizing activities such as camping, dog kayaking, and dog leash weaving.

Activity route map of The Pans Outdoor Life Festival, source: Qingpu Culture and Tourism Bureau. These things seem trivial, but for pet-owning families, they together form a very specific life imagination: on weekends, you can go to the park, have meals, go camping and take a boat trip with your family as well as your dog. This is no longer a simple pet-friendly supporting facility, but truly integrating pets into family life. Friendly services, unique scenarios, and the lifestyle that humans and pets can participate in together, finally form the unique attraction of The Pans among pet-owning families.

04

Behind pet-friendliness is the further segmentation of the customer perspective in the real estate industry.

After visiting Luxelakes, Aranya and The Pans, you will find one thing in common: developers are beginning to re-understand the real demands of their customers.

In the past, the real estate industry highly believed in the location theory. Because for a long time, the core demands of customers were commuting, education and asset value. These demands could generally be summarized by the concept of location. But today, customers' demands are becoming more and more detailed. When a pet-owning family visits a house, the first thing they may pay attention to is: is there a place to walk the dog downstairs? Can pets enter the community? Are there any pet-friendly commercial facilities nearby? When taking the dog out on weekends, are there places where we can play together?

These demands can hardly be summarized by a simple concept of location. Location is still important, but it is no longer the only answer. What has really changed in the real estate industry is that the customer decision-making coordinate system is expanding. From "me" to "us". Buying a house is increasingly not a decision made by one person. Partners, children and the elderly may all participate in the decision. As a result, house type, floor, community supporting facilities and public space all start to be designed around the overall life of the whole family. Then from "us" to "us and it". For pet-owning families, pets have also entered the family decision-making system.

According to the latest data, the number of urban dog and pet owners in China has reached 78.74 million in 2025, and pet-owning families account for 23% of the total number of families in China, which means that 1 in every 4 to 5 families raises pets. At the same time, the content related to "pet-adaptation" on Xiaohongshu is also growing rapidly. More and more families will actively take pets into consideration when making decisions about decoration and housing choices.

This means that the customers faced by the real estate industry are no longer just abstract buyers, but a set of increasingly specific life demands. How a family takes care of children, how they take care of the elderly, how they raise pets, and even how they spend their weekends may affect what kind of house they finally choose. Therefore, the significance of pet-friendliness for the real estate industry is that it truly solves the life problems of a specific type of customers. Pet-friendliness is gradually evolving from a marketing label to a product capability.

05

Pets do not understand the concept of location or property value, but they are family members who spend a very long time at home.

Dogs walking in Aranya can run freely on the beach and enter shops to choose their favorite clothes; dogs walking in Luxelakes have rest areas at any time, and can stop to drink water when they are tired; dogs walking in The Pans have their own dog partners every day, waiting for their playmates on the lawn...

Pets' preference is actually one of the simplest reasons for buying a house. So back to the original question: do we really need to consider pets' preferences when selling houses? The answer may be yes. Because pets cannot speak, but they will vote for many families. They vote for a lawn where they can run, a moving line where they can enter and exit freely, a shop that is willing to let them in, and a community that treats them as family members. These are exactly what more and more home buyers really care about.

Up to now, location is still important for real estate, but life itself is becoming more and more important. Selling a house is ultimately not just selling a space, but selling a lifestyle. Whoever can understand pets better can more easily understand today's families. And the places that pets like are often the places that many people will also like.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Really Lu Jun", written by the Really Lu Jun Team, published with authorization from 36Kr.