Why Do People Move to Cohousing Communities in Sweden? - Are there any Significant Differences Between the +40 Cohousing and the Mixed-Age Cohousing?

This research aims to investigate the motivation of moving to cohousing communities in Sweden, and to find out if there are any significant differences according to two different cohousing types; between the +40 cohousing and the mixed-age cohousing. Notable differences in demographic and dwelling variables are found between the two groups. There are more women, singles, academics, and small dwellings in the +40 cohousing than in the mixed-age cohousing. Referring motivation of move, “sharing common activity” and “idea of cohousing” are commonly noticed as the main reasons why people move to cohousing communities. Major difference between the two groups is that residents of the +40 cohousing tend to stress more on social interaction with neighbors than practical merit. On the contrary, ones of the mixed-age cohousing focus more on practical advantage than social interaction. As a conclusion, it is evident that motivation of move to cohousing communities is different by cohousing types, which have different residents’ characteristics. Cohousing could contribute to elevate marginal group’s quality of life as an alternative living environment. Therefore, cohousing design has to be tailored to adapt residents’ specific needs of different life-stages. In order to implement cohousing model into other countries, for instance into Korea, it needs to experiment with the notion of transplanting selected cohousing principles to a public housing development.