Cohousing : toward social and environmental sustainability

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationship between ‘community’ and ‘sustainability’. The descriptor, ‘community’, is lent to human groupings characterised by two things: the strength of their social relationships and the sharing of some territory, resource or value system. ‘Sustainability’ refers to the viability and continuity of natural, built and social systems, incorporating as many human as environmental considerations.This research suggests that the supportive social setting often associated with a ‘sense of community’ can be critical to the effective application of pro-environmental attitudes. Excessive Western materialism is linked to a slow but steady loss of community that typically manifests in shallow interpersonal relationships and creeping social alienation. Social degradation, it is argued, contributes to reduced concern for, and engagement with, the environment. Supportive community-based social relations, on the other hand, can engender a sense of belonging and allegiance to one’s locale. Cohesive community life can induce a commitment to the local environment which, if nurtured, can grow into a broader and more effective environmentalism. The argument is eventually linked to issues of housing and urban form, and a wider discussion of environmentally sustainable development.Empirical evidence for these propositions is gathered through an investigation of cohousing, a new form of residential community that provides clues to the link between the social dynamics of such a group and the pro-environmental praxis of its members. Cohousing is a rapidly evolving ‘intentional community’ type with attributes linking it to communitarian history and tradition. It began in Denmark and the Netherlands in the 1970s, spread to North America in the late 1980s and, to a limited extent, to Australia in the 1990s. Cohousing members share property, resources and aspirations. They eat, meet and recreate together. They network, publish and hold national conferences. Collectively, they constitute a resurgent communitarian movement. Cohousing groups generally acknowledge the debt they owe to historical communities and would claim, in particular, to be applying lessons learnt from communal experimentation of the 1960s and ’70s. Foremost among these is the recognition that exclusivity and isolation from wider society can be socially and politically detrimental. Most cohousing is located in cities and deeply embedded within mainstream culture. Communities believe they can maintain internal social cohesion despite the potential tension between members’ commitment to community life and their association with the world beyond.Grounded theory was employed as the principal methodology for this thesis. With its emphasis on theory construction, grounded theory requires the collection and analysis of data to proceed concurrently, and, to some extent, determine the direction of the research. By this process, preliminary ethnographic research (in 1992) of a single cohousing community in Denmark, broadened into a comparative analysis of a number of Danish communities. Between 1992 and 1996, cohousing became established in North America, leading to a second period of fieldwork (in late 1996) incorporating multiple case-study analysis of 18 North American cohousing communities. A survey of over 70% of all cohousing households existing at the time, revealed a number of influences due to living in cohousing, which members reported had improved their proenvironmental practices. Analysis of data gathered from multiple sources led to the development of a model that reveals the nexus between dimensions of community life and members’ environmental praxis. The model contributes to both attitude-behaviour theory and empowerment theory, and holds implications for the design and planning of housing, and for the direction of urban development. Cohousing demonstrates compact building form and efficient, innovative land use. It facilitates the sharing of resources and reduced household consumption. Cohousing encourages human interaction and lends support to disadvantaged members of society. It provides a physical and social milieu that nurtures an awareness of the consequences of one’s actions for others and for the environment. Cohousing suggests a way of rethinking the structure and fabric of urban life, which prompts a vision of a civilised and environmentally sustainable future.