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Saving Space, Sharing Time: Integrated Infrastructures of Daily Life in Cohousing

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  • Helen Jarvis

    (School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Daysh Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7UL, England)

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of collective housing, notably the North American model of purpose-built cohousing, to understand better the functions of space and time at the neglected scale of collective (colocated) interhousehold collaboration. The defining features of this form of intentional community typically include the clustering of smaller-than-average private residences to maximise shared open spaces for social interaction; common facilities for shared daily use; and consensus-based collective self-governance. This paper critically examines the infrastructures of daily life which evolve from, and ease, collective activity and the shared occupation of space. Discussion draws on observations from eight communities in the UK and USA, using selected ethnographic vignettes to illustrate a variety of alternative temporalities which coincide with a shifting and blurring of privatised dwelling. The resulting analysis exposes multiple temporal scales and innovative uses and meanings of time and space. The paper concludes by speculating on the contemporary significance of collective living arrangements and the role this might play in future sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Jarvis, 2011. "Saving Space, Sharing Time: Integrated Infrastructures of Daily Life in Cohousing," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(3), pages 560-577, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:3:p:560-577
    DOI: 10.1068/a43296
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    Cited by:

    1. Lia Karsten, 2014. "From Yuppies to Yupps: Family Gentrifiers Consuming Spaces and Re-inventing Cities," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(2), pages 175-188, April.
    2. Aimee Felstead & Kevin Thwaites & James Simpson, 2019. "A Conceptual Framework for Urban Commoning in Shared Residential Landscapes in the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-24, November.
    3. Martina Schäfer & Sabine Hielscher & Willi Haas & Daniel Hausknost & Michaela Leitner & Iris Kunze & Sylvia Mandl, 2018. "Facilitating Low-Carbon Living? A Comparison of Intervention Measures in Different Community-Based Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Elms, Jonathan & de Kervenoael, Ronan & Hallsworth, Alan, 2016. "Internet or store? An ethnographic study of consumers' internet and store-based grocery shopping practices," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 234-243.
    5. Paul Chatterton, 2013. "Towards an Agenda for Post-carbon Cities: Lessons from Lilac, the UK's First Ecological, Affordable Cohousing Community," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1654-1674, September.
    6. Bjørn Grinde & Ragnhild Bang Nes & Ian F. MacDonald & David Sloan Wilson, 2018. "Quality of Life in Intentional Communities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 625-640, June.

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