Co-Housing community

A co-housing community is a type of intentional, collaborative community consisted of private houses in which residents actively involve the design and environment of their neighborhoods. These private homes are provided with shared facilities, and living as a community is committed by co-housing residents consciously. Through the physical design of neighborhood, both individual space and social activities are promoted. Private homes have all the same features as conventional homes, but residents also share extensive common facilities such as open public space, courtyards, children playground, and a multiple-function common house.

The co-housing theory originated in Denmark in the 1960s, due to groups of families wanted to change their existing living environment and meet more needs. This idea was developed in the U.S. by architects Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett in the early 1980s and the concept of “living community” has spread quickly. There are now hundreds of co-housing communities in the world. They are range from new development built to modern eco standards to conversions of everything, such as farms, hospital in both urban and rural areas.

Co-housing communities are usually designed single-family homes along one or more pedestrian streets or clustered around a central courtyard or open space. Houses of communities range in size from 7 to 67 units, 20 to 40 households are the majority of the housing. Because neighbors are living in a relationship with one another, consensus as the basis for group decision-making in most co-housing communities.

In a co-housing community, the common house is the social center, including a large dining room and kitchen, lounge, recreational facilities, children’s spaces, and some place has a guest room, workshop, and laundry room. The common house is a gathering place for dining, celebrations, and entertainment. Communities can also provide group meals in the common house at some certain time in a week. It also has many opportunities for casual meetings between neighbors, as well as for intentional gatherings such as traditions, clubs, family celebrations and business meetings. 

In a co-housing community, neighbors work together to take care of their common property, which are built by a sense of cooperation, trust, responsibility and support. For example, people may know neighbors who live six houses down because they eat common meals together, decide how to allocate homeowners dues together, and gratefully share a ride from them when someone’s car is broken. People trust each other enough to leave their little kids with neighbors. People live together may learn how to understand and help to each other, if someone else is in trouble, their neighbors can just console them or listen to them. Co-housing aims to create a village of all ages where neighbors know and support each other. Co-housing residents generally try to “improve the world, one neighborhood at a time.” Co-housing communities are places where people work together to create wonderful lives and promoted their living environment.