Weave your way to the top covered-floor of a parking garage in Midtown Atlanta, shielded from heavy rain and direct sunlight,and you won't find cars filling the spaces between the yellow lines. Instead, you'll find three micro homes and a handful of outdoor patios, all part of a micro-housing experiment theSavannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) calls SCADPads.

As city populations boom — the World Health Organization says 6 out of 10 people will live in a city by 2030 — urban planners are pressured to seek out wise housing methods.

"If you look at where parking garages are located in cities, they're usually centrally located; There are usually many, many floors, so they provide an amazing view," explains Scott Boylston, SCAD's program coordinator for design for sustainability. "It really transforms the way we see neighborhoods.The idea that the garage becomes a village —a community."

The outdoor patio of one of the SCADPads in an Atlanta parking garage shows the amazing view of the city at night.

(SCAD)

Three tiny, 135-square-foot homes are the focal point of the experimental parking garage community. They were a collaborative effort between 135 students, five classes, 12 staffers and three dozen SCAD alumni. Each home is designed for a continent where SCAD has campuses:North America, Europe and Asia.

Boylston says the project is about "re-imagining urban living," so there's also a grey water garden, two common areas with seats and outdoor heaters, and even a 3D printer.

(MORE: She Had The Courage To Change Her Life)

A dozen students are putting the SCADPads to a test this month in Atlanta, including Jerome Elder, a SCAD design for sustainability grad student. Elder sayshis friends thought he was a little crazy wanting to live in a such a small space, but Elder loves being part of the social experiment.

"I want to live in a parking garage because there are so many out there that can be reused and re-purposed," Elder explains. "I think it's really interesting to look at these structures that we often overlook and think of them in a different way."

Inside the Europe-themed SCADPad in Atlanta.

(SCAD)

Sharika Menon, another SCAD graduate student, was among the first people to live in one of the small homes.

"I wanted to know what it's like to live smart, live small and live easy," she tells weather.com."Long back, I did want a big apartment all to myself and a comfortable lifestyle. But after living her for 10 days, this is pretty much what I want when I start work."

Boylston says that was exactly the point of the experiment: to change people's minds.

"It's aspirational and intended to bust a lot of people's perceptions about what can be in a place like this," he says.

You can follow the students' experiences living in the small homes via Twitter and Instagramby using the #SCADPadhashtag.

The three SCADPads sit in the parking garage above Atlanta. (SCAD)