This book investigates co-housing as an alternative housing form in relation to sustainable urban development. Co-housing is often lauded as a more sustainable way of living. The primary aim of this book is to critically explore co-housing in the context of wider social, economic, political and environmental developments. This volume fills a gap in the literature by contextualising co-housing and related housing forms. With focus on Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg and Barcelona, the book presents general analyses of co-housing in these contexts and provides specific discussions of co-housing in relation to local government, urban activism, family life, spatial logics and socio-ecology. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in a broad range of social-scientific fields concerned with housing, urban development and sustainability, as well as to planners, decision-makers and activists.

Bl.a. om bofællesskaberne: Trudeslund, Gyndbjerg, Bakken, Stavnbåndet, Sol og Vind, Overdrevet, Jerngården, Jystrup Savværk, Mejdal I & II, Jernstøberiet, Tornevangsgården, Drejebænken, Bondebjerget m.fl., samt bofællesskabernes historie

Across Europe, the number of co-housing initiatives is growing, and they are increasingly receiving attention from administrators and professionals who hold high expectations for urban liveability. Is co-housing a marginal idealist phenomenon, or the urban middle class’ answer to the current housing crisis? And has the development of theoretical insight and research kept up with the actual expansion of co-housing as a practice? These questions were raised during the first European conference on co-housing research, which took place in Tours, France, in March 2012. Both the conference and this book aim to move beyond case-studies, and to look more particularly at the implications and wider perspective of the current co-housing trend. Using the specific vocabulary of different disciplines and geographic regions, the contributions to this book analyse the underlying thinking behind, and the expectations projected on, diverse models of collaborative housing. The authors are aware of the qualities of contemporary co-housing, but they go beyond advocacy to investigate the conditions under which co-housing can be successful as a strategy for housing provision; can offer solutions for sustainable urban development; or indeed can contribute to involuntary or intentional gentrification. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Urban Research and Practice.

The cohousing ?bible” by the US originators of the concept.

This book presents 50 case studies of contemporary co-housing projects spread all over the world to show how communities of shared living have become a global phenomenon that can serve as a tool to promote social and urban sustainability. By presenting evidence that shared housing experiences are capable of revitalizing sterile urban fabrics and promoting social sustainable practices, the volume situates co-housing experiences as microscale responses to the macroscale challenges posed by environmental degradation and the decline of communitarian ways of living. The volume also reviews the most famous typologies of shared living in different parts of the world across human history. By analyzing historical experiences in different regions of Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the author shows that living together is part of a historical culture of sharing that is being rediscovered all over the world by people who activate public spaces, work in shared offices or live in contractual communities. The Co-Housing Phenomenon – Environmental Alliance in Times of Changes will be of interest to both professionals and scholars involved in urban design, urban planning and architecture, especially those in the field of sustainable urbanism. It will also be a valuable resource for public agents and civil society organizations dealing with housing, social, environmental and sustainability policies.

This book presents 25 international housing schemes that draw on traditional vernacular principles whilst taking into account modern day materials, methods and financial or energy requirements. The aim is to show how, despite mass housing needs, we can design quality modern schemes that ‘fit’ their surroundings and generate a sense of place, community and regional identity – rather than the poor quality, identikit housing currently seen wherever you are in the UK.

A movement that began in Europe has taken hold in North America because it provides some real answers for the increasing number of people who stop to look at where and how they live and at their impact on the environment. Cohousing is a way for a group of people to work together to develop places to live that offer both privacy and community with the values of an old-fashioned neighborhood-safety, independence, mutual concern. Many of these new ventures are up and running and many more are in the planning stages. Delivering more bang for the buck, this innovative approach to housing is challenging the formidable housing problems we face, and it is succeeding.