Living together as a solidarity and generative practice: the case of co-housing and organized cohabitations

ABSTRACT

In Italy there is a growing interest in shared housing driven by various factors, including the need for affordable housing, the desire for communal living and initiatives that target vulnerable individuals. This also extends into the realm of social services, incorporating a residential aspect. This article explores the factors that render two specific forms of living – co-housing and cohabitation – generative and capable of fostering solidarity among inhabitants and their social environment. The focus is on the creation of relationships and solidarity bonds within these living settings. Shared housing can become a valuable resource, embodying a form of generative welfare that aims to overcome traditional welfarism. With this model, resources multiply through the interventions themselves, regenerating the value available to individuals and the community.

KEYWORDS:

• Cohousing
• cohabitation
• solidarity
• generative practices
• welfare

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Note: Although this contribution is the result of common reflection, Francesca Bianchi wrote paragraphs 3, 3.1 and 3.2; Giuliana Costa wrote paragraphs 4, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 are by both authors.

Notes

1 Compared with the top-down model of co-housing, where people meet in co-residence without specific connections, the bottom-up model originates from the concept of elective neighborhood. People actively chose to live partially together and thus ‘choose’ themselves. The dimension of self-selection has been criticized and considered a risk, as it could transform the co-housing model into a gated community (Chiodelli, 2015). However, surveys indicate that electability works more in the abstract than as an actual principle of recruitment (Ruiu, 2015). Nevertheless, to become part of a co-housing community, individuals must undoubtedly share common values aligned with the principles of economic, environmental and social sustainability. Due to the inherent ambivalence in the concept, the Italian Cohousing Network has progressively chosen to minimize its usage.

2 This concept lacks an extensive body of literature, it aligns with broader discussions about the evolution of welfare systems and the aspiration to create more holistic and sustainable approaches to supporting individuals in need. Developed over the last decade by researchers of Fondazione Zancan in Italy, this concept contributes to ongoing dialogues regarding innovative welfare strategies.

3 In the sense that they haven’t been developed under institutional funded programs, and that the two authors worked separately but with a continuous exchange of ideas, concepts and mutual guidance. This last aspect also explains why the article has a non-symmetrical structure in discussing the two forms of shared living. The themes and plans of analysis, in fact, differ to some extent.

4 In 2023, there were approximately forty cohousing communities in Italy. Cfr. https://www.terranuova.it/Chiedi-all-esperto/A-che-punto-siamo-con-il-cohousing-in-Italia.

5 Since the 1970s, the establishment of co-housing has predominately been a bottom-up process (McCamant & Durrett, 1988/2011; Vedel-Petersen et al., 1988). However, there is a growing acceptance of top-down professionalization of co-housing in some countries (as Denmark), in new enterprises where developers take the initiative involving the whole process or municipalities and local communities either take the first steps or welcome establishments of co-housing projects as a strategic element in planning (Falkenstjerne Beck, 2020).

6 Senior co-housing represents a subvariant of the co-housing model, offering an alternative approach exclusively designed for members aged over 50 without children living at home (Falkenstjerne Beck, 2020).

7 In this study, our primary focus is on the bottom-up model, which has received more investigation compared to the top-down model.

8 Cfr. https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=solidarity.

9 The Foundation engages in accompaniment activities to provide support services in situations of housing distress as well as social-housing mediation activities, both with public housing and within specific projects on housing.

10 The academic literature on the topic of cohabitation as a housing arrangement is still quite limited, both in Italy and abroad. However, in our country, many experiences based on cohabitation have been documented as single case studies. These include those for young people with and without motor disabilities (Azzolari & Zappella, 2021), for women with disabilities (Persico & Ottaviano, 2018), elderly individuals with dementia (Benincasa, 2018), LGBTQIA + individuals at risk of homelessness, individuals with intellectual disabilities (Bocci & Guerini, 2017; Guerini, 2020, 2021), young people who arrived in Italy as unaccompanied minors and students or workers (Bosis, 2020), refugees and young Italians (Giuffrè & Marchetti, 2020), individuals with psychiatric disorders (Casodi et al., 2021; Chiola, 2019; Mezzina & Ridente, 2015; Starace et al., 2015), individuals and families in housing emergencies (Boni & Nava, 2018), individuals with alcohol dependencies (Ciarfeo Purich et al., 2017), and prisoners under alternative sentences or house arrest (Persico & Boschetti, 2020; Arzuffi, 2020). More recently various mixed and homogeneous cohabitation projects based on solidarity have been thoroughly described and discussed in Costa and Minora (2023). Some research has been done also to design cohabitation solutions among students and intellectual disabled young people (Malaguti & Fabbri, 2020). In contrast, there is a fair amount of news in the general media about cohabitation cases, often portrayed as virtuous and without critical scrutiny.

11 In Italy, housing policies are a regional responsibility which gives rise to multiple housing systems.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesca Bianchi

Francesca Bianchi PhD. is Associate professor in Sociology at the University of Siena, Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences where she teaches Sociology and Sociology of Inequalities and welfare. She has taken part in several studies concerning social and cultural transformations, continuing vocational training and guidance with ISFOL Rome, Carlo Cattaneo Institute of Bologna, MTI of Boston, Forschungsinstitut für Bildungs und Sozialökonomie Institute for Education and Socio-Economic Research and Consulting of Köln and Berlin. From 2000 to 2003 she was involved in the European network COST 13 (DGXII) Working group n° 4 ‘Youth employment/unemployment’, Action Changing labor market, welfare policies and citizenship. In recent years she has been studying the new participatory and collaborative practices in daily life with reference to co-husing and urban and social regeneration processes. She took part to European Network for Housing Research, Italian Association of Sociology (AIS), International Sociology Association (ISA), ESPAnet Italia Conferences. She was visiting researcher at the University of Paris Sorbonne and University of Tours; visiting professor at the University of Paris Nanterre and University of Cork.

Giuliana Costa

Giuliana Costa Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Sociology at the Polytechnic of Milan, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies. She actually teaches ‘Social and Urban Analysis’ in the Bachelor of Urban Planning and ‘Research Seminar on Housing’ in the Master of Architecture (ADU). Her main research interests are connected to local welfare policies and to housing welfare programs and projects. She published extensively of long-term care issues, studying also different housing arrangements for elderly people, and ageing in place policies. She is currently studying cohabitation models within different social policies, including women victims of violence, ex-prisoners, lone parents, disabled people, psychiatric patients, refugees, homeless and, in general, vulnerable social groups. She participates to several research projects funded by the European Union, the Italian Government and other research agencies. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Western Australia, University of Amsterdam, Université de Tours, and Universidad de San Andrés.