An alternative for whom? The evolution and socio-economy of Danish cohousing

Abstract

Cohousing has caught the attention of activists, academics and decision-makers, and Danish experiences with cohousing as bofaellesskaber are routinely highlighted as pioneering and successful. This article presents a mainly quantitative analysis of the development of Danish intergenerational cohousing and investigates socioeconomic characteristics of residents in these communities. First, the article demonstrates how the development of Danish cohousing has been undergirded by distinct shifts in dominant tenure forms. Second, it shows that inhabitants in contemporary Danish cohousing are socioeconomically distinct. This does not diminish the value of cohousing, but it problematises assumptions about the social sustainability of this housing form.

Three phases of Danish cohousing: tenure and the development of an alternative housing form

“…Danish cohousing communities are not systematically registered by any public or private entity. Therefore, we sought to compile a reasonably comprehensive list of communities using the Internet website bofaellesskab.dk and other sources, including inputs from cohousing residents (see, Jakobsen & Larsen, 2018). The resulting list of 110 intergenerational cohousing communities is not exhaustive.…”

“…New communities are listed by the year that the first members took up residence. Source: Jakobsen & Larsen (2018) in with general changes in housing legislation, notably the introduction and eventual termination of state support for new-build housing cooperatives, these phases can be dated quite precisely. It should be noted, however, that although the second phase formally can be delimited to the period 1981-2004, the period of cohousing based on cooperative tenure effectively culminated in the early 1990s (see below).…”

“…In significant part, Nygaard (1984) sees this as a national-romantic reaction to developments such as Denmark's entry into European Economic Community in 1973. While not necessarily for this reason, the Danish cohousing communities generally also assumed the spatial form of village-like developments in suburban or quasi-rural settings (for a map, see Jakobsen & Larsen, 2018).…”

“…That this is also the case for cohousing is suggested by a recent analysis, which shows that contemporarary cohousing residents are significantly above the Danish average in socio-economic status and level of education. This is most pronounced in owner-occupied cohousing, but residents in communities based on cooperative tenure are also noticably above the Danish average (Jakobsen & Larsen, 2018). It has been debated whether cohousing is a variant of arguably the most manifest form of housing segregation, gated communities (Chiodelli, 2015;Chiodelli & Baglione, 2014;Ruiu, 2014).…”

“…But the issue of tenure (or ownership) forms is mainly addressed in passing or as a subset of other concerns, typically the important issues of access, affordability and social inclusion in cohousing (e.g. Chatterton, 2015;Garciano, 2011;Jakobsen & Larsen, 2018).…”