• Architectural research
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.77-86
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• 2013

Cohousing is based on collaborative network, or fictive kin in the community. It could facilitate the goal of self-sufficiency. This research aims to investigate the motivation of move to cohousing communities in Sweden, and to find out if there are any significant differences according to two different cohousing types; between the +40 cohousing and the mixed-age cohousing. The +40 cohousing is a kind of senior cohousing in which residents are supposed to be aged over 40. Questionnaire survey was applied and 242 collected data were analyzed by SPSS statistical program. Notable differences in demographic and dwelling variables are found between the 2 groups. There are more women, singles, academics, and small dwellings in the +40 cohousing than in the mixed-age cohousing. Referring motivation of move, "sharing common activity" and "idea of cohousing" are commonly noticed as the main reasons why people move to cohousing communities. Major difference between the 2 groups is that residents of the +40 cohousing tend to stress more on social interaction with neighbors than practical merit. On the contrary, ones of the mixed-age cohousing focus more on practical advantage than social interaction. As a conclusion, it is evident that motivation of move to cohousing communities is different by cohousing types, which have different residents' characteristics. Cohousing could contribute to elevate marginal group's quality of life as an alternative living environment. Therefore, cohousing design has to be tailored to adapt residents' specific needs of different life-stages. In order to implement cohousing model into other countries, for instance into Korea, it needs to experiment with the notion of transplanting selected cohousing principles to a public housing development. In the mixed-age cohousing where more dual income families with young children than conventional housing developments reside, residents would need more practical advantage than emotional support in the community, while as residents in the senior cohousing need vice versa.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.133-146
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• 2011

This study evaluates common activity and quality of life in Swedish cohousing units to examine whether Swedish cohousing functions properly or not. A questionnaire survey was fulfilled during the autumn of 2010 in G$\ddot{o}$teborg Sweden. The subjects of study were 12 of 44 cohousing units in Sweden that included 4 of the +40 cohousing and 8 of the mixed-age cohousing. A total of 242 of 353 distributed questionnaires were collected (68.6%) and analyzed by SPSS statistical program. The findings are as follow: 1) General characteristics of the respondents are that they are mostly healthy, evenly aged from age 50s to 70s and highly educated with significant proportions of academics and civil workers. There are more females than males and more singles than cohabitants. 2) The most frequent and preferred common activity is a common meal followed by a coffee meeting. A common dinner, the 'hub of living together' is held almost every day or at least a few times a week. A common meal is considered one of the most important activities because of practical and social advantages in that residents can save time and cooking costs as well as engage in social contact. Referring to evaluation of frequency and content of common activity, more than a half of the respondents prefer the current situation. 3) All of the variables (except health conditions and education level) affect participation in common activity with statistical significance. 4) Most of the respondents indicate a high level of life satisfaction and are willing to recommend others move to cohousing. They agree that there is more mutual support among residents in cohousing units than in a conventional community. In conclusion, Swedish cohousing units function successfully as they have pursued intentional community ideology and most of the residents are proud of their current living situations.

• 가정과삶의질연구
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

The purpose of this research is to find out the differences of participation in common activities and life satisfaction of Swedish senior cohousing residents between the years of 2001 and 2010 by conducting a longitudinal study. The same questionnaire were surveyed nationwide to 186 residents of 8 Senior $G{\aa}rden$ cohousings in 2001 and 127 residents of 4 +40 cohousings in 2010, resulting in total 313 respondents' data. The results show that the +40 cohousing respondents are more likely than Senior $G{\aa}rden$ cohousing respondents to participate in all common activities, especially common meals and common coffee meetings. However, the subjective evaluation of the quantity as well as the contents of participating in common activities does not statistically differ in the two groups and life satisfaction is similarly high with a few differences. The +40 cohousing respondents are less likely to stay at and more likely to move into age-mixed cohousing if they have a chance to move when compared to their Senior $G{\aa}rden$ cohousing counterparts. The result of this research reveals that the general characteristics of senior cohousing residents have been changed and they have become more likely to be active participants of various common activities and have high life satisfaction.