Cohousing in Sweden

Joani posted to this to coho-l, and I wanted to get it here as well:

"I found a fascinating history of collaborative housing communities in Europe (and in particular in Sweden) going back to the early years of the 19th century."

http://www.kollektivhus.nu/eng/sidor/history/colhisteng08.pdf

Fred Olsen added:

"The 11 page article by Dick Urban Vestbro from November 2008 is in English but has a little Swedish in illustrations. He traces "collaborative housing" back a very long way. I found it interesting how he found
changing women's roles to be so much a motivation for the evolution of collaborative housing. Other trends seemed to be toward preparation of meals by residents rather than by a paid staff. This seemed to be more possible as communities were designed for fewer people. The term "unit" in the paper refers to a community while we use the term "unit" for a households residence within a community."

The author of the article then posted:

"Dear friends,

The last 20 years have seen a growing interest in cohousing and other alternative forms of living, in Sweden as well as internationally. The search for a sense of community remains an important driving force behind demands for cohousing. During the last ten years new aspects have been added, such as housing for the "second half of life" and planning for more sustainable lifestyles.

Collaborative housing networks in a number of countries have taken an interest in the Swedish cohousing model, which is characterized by a strong involvement by municipal housing companies and by political initiatives combined with efforts from independent non-government organizations. The fact that these companies offer rental housing means that cohousing is accessible also to low-income households such as single parents and poor retired people.

Towards this background, the association Kollektivhus NU (Co-housing NOW) in collaboration with the Division of Urban and Regional Studies of The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) is happy to convene an international conference on collaborative housing, to take place in Stockholm 5-9 May 2010. The conference will provide a forum for researchers, housing companies, politicians and activists to meet and discuss experiences of different models of collaborative living. The conference is intended to give an overview of current international praxis and knowledge and to strengthen existing international cooperation.

For further information, see the PDF file at:
http://tinyurl.com/IntCohoConf
which goes to:
http://www.kollektivhus.nu/eng/sidor/internationalconference/IntConfInvi...

Kind regards
Dick Urban Vestbro
Professor Emeritus, KTH
Chair of Cohousing NOW
http://www.kollektivhus.nu/eng/ "