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‘A Slow Build-Up of a History of Kindness’: Exploring the Potential of Community-Led Housing in Alleviating Loneliness

Author

Listed:
  • Jim Hudson

    (School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK)

  • Kath Scanlon

    (LSE London, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK)

  • Chihiro Udagawa

    (LSE London, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK)

  • Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia

    (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YT, UK)

  • Mara Ferreri

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK)

  • Karen West

    (School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK)

Abstract

This article explores the potential of community-led housing (CLH) in combatting loneliness, and represents a mixed-methods research project carried out from just before the beginning of the pandemic, through 2020. Methods comprised a nationwide quantitative online survey of members of CLH groups (N = 221 respondents from England and Wales), followed by five case studies of communities representing a range of different CLH models. This qualitative element comprised participant observation, and semi-structured interviews at each group. The article also considers data from a smaller research project carried out by the same team in July 2020, that aimed to capture the experience of the pandemic for CLH groups, and comprising an online questionnaire followed by 18 semi-structured interviews. We conclude that members of CLH projects are measurably less lonely than those with comparable levels of social connection in wider society, and that such benefits are achieved through combinations of multiple different elements that include physical design, social design and through social processes. Notably, not all aspects of communities that contribute positively are a result of explicit intentionality, albeit the concept is considered key to at least one of the models.

Suggested Citation

  • Jim Hudson & Kath Scanlon & Chihiro Udagawa & Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia & Mara Ferreri & Karen West, 2021. "‘A Slow Build-Up of a History of Kindness’: Exploring the Potential of Community-Led Housing in Alleviating Loneliness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11323-:d:655508
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elizabeth A. Markle & Rachel Rodgers & William Sanchez & Mary Ballou, 2015. "Social support in the cohousing model of community: a mixed-methods analysis," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 616-631, December.
    2. Andrea Jones, 2017. "Housing choices in later life as unclaimed forms of housing activism," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 138-152, April.
    3. Richard Lang & Andreas Novy, 2014. "Cooperative Housing and Social Cohesion: The Role of Linking Social Capital," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(8), pages 1744-1764, August.
    4. Jung Shin Choi, 2004. "Evaluation of community planning and life of senior cohousing projects in northern European countries1," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(8), pages 1189-1216, December.
    5. Francesco Chiodelli, 2015. "What is really different between cohousing and gated communities?," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(12), pages 2566-2581, December.
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