Co-housing design: New qualities through new housing collaborations?

Co-housing initiatives are currently on the rise in most European countries. CohousingCo-housing advocates inclusiveness and sustainability and points the way to new models of design as well as of co-creation processes. This contribution explores the spatial criteria used to match the co-housing ideals, and compares Dutch and Swiss co-housing practices. The Netherlands can be seen as an early pioneer of co-housing and Switzerland as forerunner in the field of housing cooperatives. In both countries, grass-root initiatives are increasingly recognised as important urban development partnerpartners. The case-studies show that this can lead to high-quality housing, particularly when institutions, professionals and residents operate on the same key-values. Collaboration is also essential to transfer the experiences to mainstream housing.