Abstract
The first modern cohousing community was developed in Denmark just outside of Copenhagen in 1972. Twenty-seven families who desired a greater sense of community and collaboration than found in typical neighborhoods of the time came together to develop a fresh approach to housing (McCamant & Durrett, 1988). With the guiding principles of community and cooperation in mind these families developed the physical characteristics and the governing structure for their new community that have now become hallmarks of the modern cohousing movement. Architectural features such as community kitchens, communal play areas for children, and common gardens and courtyards served to heighten residents’ natural interactions with one another.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bamford, G. (2005). Cohousing for older people: Housing innovation in the Netherlands and Denmark. Australian Journal on Ageing, 24(1), 44–46.
Cohousing Association of the United States (2019). https://www.cohousing.org/. Accessed 1 February 2019.
Durrett, C. (2005). Senior cohousing handbook: A community approach to independent living (1st ed.). Berkeley, CA: Habitat Press.
Durrett, C. (2009). Senior cohousing handbook: A community approach to independent living (2nd ed.). Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers.
Fellowship for Intentional Community. https://www.ic.org/. Accessed 17 February 2019.
Glass, A. P. (2009). Aging in a community of mutual support: The emergence of an elder intentional cohousing community in the United States. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 23, 283–303.
Glass, A. P. (2013). A conceptual model for aging better together intentionally. Jounal of Aging Studies, 27, 428–442.
McMamant, K., & Durrett, C. (1988). Cohousingg: A contemporary approach to housing ourselves. Berkeley, CA: Habitat Press/Ten Speed Press.
McMamant, K. & Durrett, C. (1994). Cohousing: A contemporary approach to housing ourselves (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Pendersen, M. (2015). Senior cohousing communities in Denmark. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 29, 126–145.
Tornstam, L. (2005). Gerotranscendence: A development theory of positive aging. New York: Springer Publishing.
Tornstam, L. (2011). Maturing into gerotranscendence. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 43(2), 166–180.
Verde, T. (January 20, 2018). There’s Community and Consensus. But It’s No Commune. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/business/cohousing-communities.html. Accessed 10 February 2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cummings, S., Kropf, N.P. (2020). Senior Cohousing—History and Theory. In: Senior Cohousing. SpringerBriefs in Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25362-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25362-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25361-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25362-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)