PORTLAND: Co-housing originated in Denmark in the mid-1970s and swiftly became established in Scandinavia, Germany and the US. A few co-housing communities have emerged in the UK over recent years, and the idea is now rapidly gaining momentum with more than 60 projects in the pipeline in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India.
Jo Gooding, coordinator of one co-housing network, describes these projects as “self-managing communities, independently governed by the people who live there”. Members have private, self-contained homes, supplemented by communal facilities, such as a common house, playrooms, workspace, guest accommodation. Cars are ancillary, making communal spaces safe and pleasant.
“The design principles encourage social interaction,” says Gooding. Co-housing is attractive to single people, especially in older age groups, who want to live neither in isolation nor in conventional seniors housing, and to families looking for supportive environments in which to raise children and juggle work commitments. All groups and communities have a strong desire to collectively reduce their environmental footprint.
Gooding says the number of groups formed in the past two years has doubled, and 18 projects have been completed, with a definite trend towards cities. According to Stephen Hill, the director of C2O futureplanners, co-housing projects are part of the building blocks of cities of the future. “We’ve lost the plot of how people want to live, and how to adapt to social and environmental change. The accepted thinking is that we don’t really live in neighbourhoods anymore. But people are desperate to feel they live in a place where they can relate to others, in a naturally protective environment that enables people to be more active citizens.”
This requires radical new thinking from planners and developers, he says. “Those who provide housing have found ways of isolating themselves from people who need housing. The idea you should engage directly with the people who are going to live in the homes you are planning or building is really alien”…