WHAT IS COHOUSING ?

Cohousing is a form of intentional community that was imported from Denmark in the
late 80s. It provides the privacy we are used to with the community that we seek. It is
currently spreading widely across the Europe and USA.

It can also be defined as an intentional community of private homes clustered around

shared space.
PRIVATE HOMES

PRIVATE
BEDROOMS TRADITIONAL KITCHEN /
AMENITIES PANTRY

SHARED SPACE

LARGE DINING AREA LAUNDRY RECREATIONAL

KITCHEN SPACE
SHARED SPACE
(OUTDOOR)

WALKWAY GARDEN
PARKING OPEN SPACE
Each house have independent income and private lives but the neighbors
collectively plan and manage the communal activities of the place. These
activities includes :

1. Regularly scheduled shared meals

2. Meetings
3. Workdays
4. Parties
5. Games
6. Movies
7. Festive events

Cohousing makes it easier to form clubs and organize social communal care
and carpool. Group of peoples with the same interests and backgrounds can
live together and conduct their activities safely and efficiently.

URBAN COHOUSING

Smaller lots in urban locations encourage the use of townhouses and

apartment flats.

Jamaica Plain Cohousing fits 30 units on of an acre while still creating a

generous common courtyard and common house.

Many Urban Cohousing communities incorporate underground parking as a

strategy for providing more open spaces.
COMPONENTS OF COHOUSING
1) Participatory process : Residents help organize and participate in the planning and
design process for the housing development, and they are responsible as a group for
final decision

2) Deliberate Neighborhood Design : The physical design encourages a strong sense of

community.

3) Extensive Common Facilities : Common areas are an integral part of the community ,
designed for daily use and to supplement private living areas.

4) Complete Resident Management : Residents manage the development, making

decisions of common concern at community meetings.

5) Non-Hierarchal structure : there area not really leadership roles. The responsibility for
the decisions are shared by the community adults.

6) Separate Income Sources : Residents have their own primary incomes, the community
does not generate income.
The common space is the
integral part of the
component In cohousing. It is
the hearth of the dwellers. A
good cohousing shall have a
common space that
promotes inter-tenant
North Americas 50th
Cohousing Community
ispreserved in the 1917
Swan's Market building in the
historic Old Oakland
neighborhood. Cohousing
can also be utilized to uplift
 Typically, the common house plays the most important role in making a cohousing
successful and beneficial for the users. The common house design could be :

1. Located at a common path or an entrance where the residents have to pass

the common house on their way home so the dwellers will feel connected
and feel that they are an integral part of the community.

2. Visible from each rooms or even outside of each house so people are more
likely to join in when there is any activity visible to them.

3. Equidistant from all the private homes.

1. 2. 3.
EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY
LAYOUT

Varieties of co-housing floor

plans by Nathan Majeski and
Linda Hallgren. Blue
TYPICAL COHOUSING DESIGN SCHEME
The scheme may varies depending on the condition of the site, the common
house interaction needed by the dwellers, and also the consensus from the
residents. Among the design schemes are:

Retrieved from: http://design.uoregon.ed

In Malaysia, cohousing has yet to be explored, particularly in an urban context.
However, these factors may encourage the urban dwellers to embrace the new
way of cohousing living style in an urban context:

COMMUNITY
People living in a cohousing environment is happier, healthier
and engaged in social interactions and connections. People can
enjoy their privacy individuality, while at the same time they can
enjoy the connections with other people by simply walking
outside of their room.
SUSTAINABILITY
Cohousing allows residents to gather their efforts and resources
for occasional shared meals and child care. Some cohousing also
preferred to have a shared gardens where environmentally-
friendly structures can contribute to lower carbon footprints.

LIFE ENHANCEMENT
Cohousing can enhance urban living lifestyle by providing a
better feeling of security, both physically and financially.
Common values shared by the dwellers usually encompass a
healthy lifestyle, environmental friendly approach and the
positive growth of the society they live in.
Although it has yet to be implemented in Kuala Lumpur, the research conducted by
Coho/US in 2011 confirms that cohousing is beneficial for children, parents, singles,
seniors, the neighborhoods around them, and most importantly, the environment. It
also improves the members happiness and life satisfaction, and reduces the energy
consumption and resource management.
ADVANTAGES OF COHOUSING
Economically
1. A co-housing is neither a public nor a profit seeking organization
2. Its principal objective is to eliminate economic exploitation as it is controlled by
members only
3. Contrary to public housing, co-housing provides opportunities to its members to
control the house designs at the planning stages.
4. The maintenance of the estate is also in the hands of members, which leads to
maintenance at lesser expenses and in better way
5. Sharing resources with other community members. Sharing tasks and chores
cooking, providing childcare, and driving, can offer savings in both time and money.
Socially
1. In our mobile and fast-paced society, co-housing can offer support and sense of
unity to people who are often geographically separated from their traditional
families.
2. Shared childcare arrangements, a community of caring adults, friendship, peer
support, help with chores and assistance during lifes stressful times.
3. Houses that are arranged facing each other encourage public surveillance thus
creating a safer living environment.

Neighborhood benefits
1. Co-housing communities, far from being insular, are often involved in a broad range
of neighborhood sustainability projects such as tree-planting, community
gardens, speed bump and bicycle lane safety advocacy, affordable housing,
recycling, and green space preservation.
DISADVANTAGES OF COHOUSING
Economically
1. Limited capital- owners may not have complete control over their property should they
decide to sell since many communities have right to first buying refusal.
2. Few individuals may discover that they do not use the common facilities yet have no
way to avoid paying the associated dues since they are part of the ownership contract.
3. New co-housing communities may take more time, money and energy to plan and
develop.
Socially
1. Restrictive in regards to privacy and individualism because of the open nature of the
communities where members are highly involved in each others lives.
2. Every changes and decisions must be agreed upon by entire community in many cases.
3. Since Malaysia is a multi racial country with different religious and beliefs, we have to
consider some restrictions such as Muslims have a strict dietary of eating foods that are
halal.

COHOUSING : SUSTAINABLE URBAN LIVING

1. Clustered housing saves valuable land for community facilities, recreation and
conservation

2. Smaller homes save construction materials and energy for cooling system

3. Sharing items means less consumption of non-renewable resources and more

socio-economically sustainable.
References :

1. http://www.cohousing.org/what_is_cohousing retrieved 15th February 2017

2. http://
www.cohousing.org/www.cohousing.org/what_is_cohousing/whychoose
retrieved 15th February 2017
3. http://www.cohousing.org/slideshow_what_is_cohousing retrieved 15th