The Role of Co-housing in Building Sustainable Communities: Case studies from the UK

Abstract

This paper explored the role of co-housing model in the UK and discussed the benefits and limitations of co-housing model by exploring co-housing residents" motivation and daily living. Through case studies in the UK, semi-structured interviews were carried out to establish the environmental and social sustainability in co-housing and understand residents thinking and behaviour. This study found that co-housing can benefit various age groups, and promote residents" thinking and behaviour change towards sustainable living. The study also found that the financial limitation and new members recruitment are the top two difficulties in co-housing development. The findings of this research will establish a better understanding of UK co-housing and highlight the potentials and possibilities of co-housing communities.Keywords: sustainable communities; co-housing; environmental sustainability; social sustainability eISSN: 2398eISSN: -4287© 2017 IntroductionNowadays a growing number of people pay more attention to the quality of living environment and social life. As a result, a wide range of stakeholders such as architects, engineers, housing officers, community development officers and neighbourhood managers play a part in creating safe, green and friendly living environments to respond this common needs. In 2003, the concept of a "sustainable community" was proposed by the UK government. A sustainable community is defined as an economically, environmentally, socially positive, mutually beneficial and resilient community. This concept will encourage the government to build communities that will stand the test of time and in which people "want to live and work, now and in the future" by promoting various housing provision models, such as co-housing. Co-housing is a creative way to achieve the sustainable community concept and to contribute to affordable living. It is a new collaborative housing model in the UK, and it is designed to foster meaningful relationships, social interaction and sustainable living, therefore, leading to the building of a sustainable community. Co-housing has the potential to deliver a supportive housing environment that leads to a low carbon lifestyle and sustainable living. Also, co-housing can be an alternative way to approach housing that could address larger issues of social, economic and environmental sustainability, while providing a better environment for the residents and a wider community.This paper aims to explore the role of co-housing model in the UK and will discuss the benefits and limitations of co-housing model by exploring co-housing residents" motivation and daily living. Examining whether co-housing model can be used as an evaluation tool to guide thinking and behaviour change and foster sustainable community building. Through case studies in the UK, residents interview will be used in this study to establish the environmental and social sustainability in co-housing and understand residents thinking and behaviour. The findings of this research will establish a better...

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