Research
The following is a list of the research, reports and papers into Cohousing that we are aware of, with the links and documents attached where we have these. If you are aware of additional research or wish your research to be included please contact office@cohousing.org.uk
We also suggest you look at the following web sites for information:
Elder Cohousing – an idea whose time has come
Neshama Abraham & Kate deLaGrange
An overview and description of cohousing for older people with a focus on US-based schemes.
Value tensions and dynamics in the co-ordination of self-transformational groups
Dermot O’Reilly & Mark Westcombe
A practitioner-focused report on the findings from a study into the value tensions and dynamics in the co-ordination of a Cohousing Group in the UK.
Development of new cohousing: lessons from a London scheme for the over-50s
Kath Scanlon & Melissa Fernandez Arrigoitia
An examination of the ways in which cohousing communities can increase in number in the UK, using the case study of a cohousing community in South London
Islington Park Street Community: a model for alternative housing in London
Melissa Fernandez Arrigoitia
Case study report looking at the history of Islington Park Street Community to understand its distinctiveness and its potential use as a model for other London Schemes.
London School of Economics and Political Science (2015)
Download here
Alternative housing could be the answer to London’s housing crisis
Melissa Fernandez Arrigoitia
An article discussing the possibilities that alternative housing can provide whilst investigating its constraints.
London School of Economics and Political Science (2014)
Download here
Supporting social contact design principles in common areas of cohousing communities
J.T. Bouma, W.A. Poelman & A.I.M. Voorbij
A paper on how the physical properties of cohousing communities can impact social interactions.
Hanze University, University Twente & Rotterdam University
Download here
Designing Neighbourhoods for Social Interaction: The Case of Cohousing
Jo Williams
A paper discussing the design principles inherent in cohousing schemes and how they encourage social interaction.
Living together privately: for a cautious reading of cohousing
Francesco Chiodelli and Valeria Baglione
A comparison between the constitutive features of cohousing and other kinds of private residential communities.
Growing Older Together: the development and promotion of resident-led models of housing with care for older people
Jon Stevens
A practise briefing on the development and promotion of resident-led models of housing for older people.
Collaborative design of Older Women’s Cohousing in Working with Older People
Patrick Devlin
The purpose of this paper is to explore how a Collaborative Design Process (CDP) can work, as applied to a soon-to-be realised project in North London.
Cohousing for Stages of an Ageing Britain
Susan Scott Hunt
Paper examining aspects of the particular legal environment for a nascent but growing cohousing movement within the UK.
Cohousing Briefing Paper 1 – Work on the wild side: For developers & architects
Moyra Riseborough
Lessons for designers and architects on the principles of cohousing and how to translate these into schemes.
Cohousing Briefing Paper 2 – Work on the wild side: For commissioners and housing and social care providers
Moyra Riseborough
Lessons for commissioners and housing and social care providers on the principles of cohousing and how to translate these into schemes.
Life in De Kersentuin: Examining the characteristics of a sustainable cohousing project
Yannick Kiesel
A masters thesis focused on cohousing as a sustainable community development alternative in urban areas.
Cohousing – the potential for an older people’s development in Newcastle upon Tyne
Moyra Riseborough
Investigating the circumstances in which a senior cohousing development could thrive in a city like Newcastle upon Tyne.
Housing Norms vs. Real Needs: Bottom-Up Cohousing
Bence Komlosi & Zsofia Glatz
An article discussing the benefits of ‘self-organising’ communities to the housing sector with a focus on Switzerland, Venezuela & Hungary.
Cohousing: Shared Futures
Helen Jarvis, Kath Scanlon & Melissa Fernandez Arrigoitia
A collaborative report into cohousing, its benefits, its future in the UK, and the ways in which the UK Government can support its growth.
Towards a deeper understanding of the social architecture of co-housing: evidence from the UK, USA and Australia
Helen Jarvis
Looking at the ‘social glue’ that distinguishes cohousing communities from other shared space neighbourhoods; in particular, how the cohousing development process encourages this ‘social architecture’.
Local Housing, Community Living: prospects for scaling up and scaling out community led housing
Andrew Heywood
An exploration of the housing models in the community-led housing sector and an identification of the barriers in moving the sector into the mainstream.
Aging in a Community of Mutual Support: The Emergence of an Elder Intentional Cohousing Community in the United States
Anne P. Glass
Report into the ElderSpirit Community; its origins, development and the benefits the mutual support gives its residents.
The cohousing approach to ‘lifetime neighbourhoods’
Maria Brenton
Considers how local authorities can work with public and private sector partners to develop a cohousing approach towards the outcomes sought from the government’s national strategy on housing for an ageing society.
Choosing and managing your own community in later life, in Our Homes, our lives: choice in later life living arrangements
Maria Brenton
Exploring concepts such as ‘choice’ and ‘independence’ in housing.
‘Co-operative living arrangements among older women’
Maria Brenton
Paper arguing that at an ageing society presents a challenge to sustainability because of the ageism of society.
Cohousing communities of older people, in Inclusive Housing in an Ageing society
Maria Brenton
The housing problems of older people ihn our society are highly topical because of the growing number of retired people in the population and, especially, the yet-to-become increasing number of ‘very old’ people. This book represents a first attempt at bringing together people from the worlds of architecture, social science and housing studies to look at the future of living environments for an ageing society.
Policy Press, Bristol (2001)
Potential Benefits of Cohousing for Older People: A literature review
Maria Brenton
Literature view reflecting research into the benefits of cohousing and the social and civic impact.
Choice, autonomy and mutual support: older women’s collaborative living arrangements
Maria Brenton
Women are more likely than men to find themselves living alone in old age: shared living with like-minded women is one possible alternative. This study documents a variety of such arrangements, including a mobile home community in Arizona and a housing co-operative in Toronto.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation/York Publishing Services (1999)
Senior cohousing communities – an alternative approach for the UK?
Maria Brenton
Paper examining the notion of cohousing drawing on examples of cohousing from outside the UK and assessing the potential for cohousing in the UK.
‘We’re in charge’: cohousing communities of older people in the Netherlands: Lessons for Britain?
Maria Brenton
This report draws on a study of groups of older people in The Netherlands who, anticipating the possibility of a life alone, have taken steps to start or join a CoHousing community. The author explores what motivates older people to move house and join a “living group.”
Policy Press, University of Bristol (1998)
Evaluation of community planning and life of senior cohousing projects in northern European countries
Jung Shin Choi
This article discusses how residents manage their life in senior cohousing projects in Sweden and Denmark.
German co-housing: an opportunity for municipalities to foster socially inclusive urban development?
Christiane Droste
Taking Berlin as an Urban Laboratory, this article examines ways of supporting the tenure and offers some advice on how cities might mainstream what so far is an interesting niche product.
Well-being and age in co-housing life: Thinking with and beyond design
Melissa Fernandez, Kath Scanlon & Karen West
This viewpoint considers how spatial design, resident control and home technologies matter to ‘successful ageing’ in the increasingly popular co-housing communities – both intergenerational and senior.
Socio-technical transitions: a case study of co-housing in London
Baiba Fogele
This dissertation traces the emergence of co-housing in London through the lens of socio-technical transition theory and its multilevel perspective. It examines how and in what ways co-housing as an alternative community-led housing initiative is protected by the UK Cohousing Network.
Summary of the International Cohousing Conference
Albrecht Göschel
Summary of the International Collaborative Housing Conference Stockholm 5-9 May 2010
The Lacking Narrative: Why Intentional Community Members Choose To Live A More Demanding Lifestyle
Jordan Todd
Intentional communities often require significantly more commitment, involvement and investment from their members than other forms of community. An investigation into why people choose to live together this way.
