Housing stocks provide much more than just shelter. Energy suppliers, pension fund managers and public transit providers are but a few of the many stakeholders that have a regulated interest in the non-shelter goods and services offered by housing. Such stakeholders and their activities are traditionally addressed on a sectoral basis, yet regulations that are designed to apply to one often have unintended effects on another, effects that may produce negative pressure on the housing stock – and the wider built environment – in terms of sustainability. Sustainable Collective Housing presents a new and comprehensive approach to the study of the regulations pertaining to housing: the institutional regimes framework. By considering the housing stock as a resource, this framework enables the ensemble of public policies, property rights and contracts that govern all shelter and non-shelter uses of housing to be identified, analyzed and evaluated. Using examples from Switzerland, Germany and Spain, this book describes the regulatory conditions that must be in place before housing sustainability issues can be effectively tackled. The book will provide policy-makers, housing stock owners and other stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to make rational and legitimate decisions regarding housing sustainability.

Presents a new and comprehensive approach to the study of the regulations pertaining to housing: the institutional regimes framework

This book examines the social and spatial dimensions of dwelling from the perspective of sustainability. This publication avoids the traditional energy and technological dimensions of sustainability to position the notion of sustainable dwelling at the crossroads of spatial polyvalence and residents' empowerment. In the field of housing, this publication identifies the recurrent properties of 'sustainable space’ and the variety of the socio-cultural practices that can embody them. Its purpose is to comprehend how the concept of sustainability is reflected in housing spaces as well as to analyse how inhabitants put those spaces to the test.

Does small mean less? Not necessarily. In an era of housing crises, environmental unsustainability and social fragmentation, the need for more sociable, affordable and sustainable housing is vital. The answer? Shared living - from joint households to land-sharing, cohousing and ecovillages.Using successful examples from a range of countries, Anitra Nelson shows how 'eco-collaborative housing' - resident-driven low impact living with shared facilities and activities - can address the great social, economic and sustainability challenges that householders and capitalist societies face today. Sharing living spaces and facilities results in householders having more amenities and opportunities for neighbourly interaction.Small is Necessary places contemporary models of 'alternative' housing and living at centre stage arguing that they are outward-looking, culturally rich, with low ecological footprints and offer governance techniques for a more equitable and sustainable future.

This book investigates co-housing as an alternative housing form in relation to sustainable urban development. Co-housing is often lauded as a more sustainable way of living. The primary aim of this book is to critically explore co-housing in the context of wider social, economic, political and environmental developments. This volume fills a gap in the literature by contextualising co-housing and related housing forms. With focus on Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg and Barcelona, the book presents general analyses of co-housing in these contexts and provides specific discussions of co-housing in relation to local government, urban activism, family life, spatial logics and socio-ecology. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in a broad range of social-scientific fields concerned with housing, urban development and sustainability, as well as to planners, decision-makers and activists.

A growing area in the sharing economy, intentional communities (co-living, communal living, and cohousing projects) are explored in this timely survey via architecture, public policy, sociology, and sustainability. In recent years, the Atlantic, Forbes, Time, and Curbed have reported on the growth of intentional communities--collective housing alternatives that initially gained popularity in the United States in the early 1990s and originated in Denmark in the 1960s. Featuring fifteen to twenty contemporary projects that address the challenges and benefits of shared resources and spaces, Intentional Communities addresses a growing population: according to the Pew Research Center, nearly one in three adults in the United States lives in a shared household. From Copenhagen to Washington, DC, this survey covers architecture, public policy, design, lifestyle, culture, and environmental sustainability.