Co-housing encourages a sense of community involvement and responsibility through shared space. Housing is private, but there’s communal space and buildings, commonly including common dining area, kitchen, childcare space, meeting rooms, recreation space. A typical co-housing development is a cluster of 20-30 single family houses, often with a central common space and building. Often cars are restricted to a lot, so that most of the space is car-free. There is usually an expectation that residents will participate in aspects of communal decision making and social activities.
Co-housing began in Denmark in the late 1960s and has spread to many other countries. There are more than 100 co-housing developments in the US and Canada.
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