Towards a deeper understanding of the social architecture of co-housing: evidence from the UK, USA and Australia

Abstract

This article draws attention to the micro-social practices that self-organising resident groups engage in over the years that it takes to build a co-housing community. This ‘social architecture’ is what distinguishes co-housing from superficially similar shared-space neighbourhoods. Co-housing developments are attracting renewed attention in Anglophone neo-liberal economies against a backdrop of crisis in conventional housing. Discussion draws on the views of co-housing residents from participatory research from the UK, USA and Australia. By engaging with a deeper understanding of group processes, shared visions and interpersonal capabilities – the ‘glue’ binding collaborative community relations – this paper challenges the priority usually given to the material characteristics of home and neighbourhood design.

Keywords:

• co-housing
• sharing
• capability
• solidarity
• social architecture

Acknowledgement

The author is grateful to Lidewij Tummers for organising this special issue and the conference on which this issue is based.

Additional information

Funding

The author wishes to acknowledge funding from the International Research Initiative Scheme (IRIS) University of Western Sydney, Australia, and Newcastle University, UK, for a faculty small grant. Heartfelt thanks go to the communities visited for their generous and enthusiastic welcome.