Co-housing is a powerful remedy to the ailments of contemporary stressful family lives and of increased individualism and experienced loneliness.

Co-housing facilitates the interaction among neighbors, providing social, practical, economic and environmental benefits. Co-housing communities build social capital – and encourages more sustainable and fun behaviors. The simple act of eating together on a regular basis is a strong catalyst: As architect and founder of the Seattle Schemata Cohousing Project, Grace Kim says: (FastCompany, 2017): “It turns out when you eat together, you start planning more activities together, you share more things, you start to watch each other’s kids”.

Denmark has for decades been a pioneer in co-housing, and the co-housing movement – now growing all over the world (​FastCompany, 2017​) – has its origins in Denmark in the 1960s with a number of successful co-housing villages being built and ambassadors such as Bodil Graae with her article “Children Should Have One Hundred Parents,” (Politiken, 1967) stressing the potential for learning, play and life quality. With a big demand, co-housing promises to change the real estate market as we know it.

Co-housing is an intentional community of private homes placed strategically close to each other around shared spaces. Shared spaces may include workshops, open spaces, play areas, gardens, walkways, a common house with a kitchen and dining area – and include shared resources such as cars, tools, office facilities, toys etc. Joint activities during the week bring the community together.