Cohousing in Italy

The idea of cohousing as a style of living was born in Denmark in 1964 by a group of friends opposed to the metamorphosis that cities were undergoing – the isolation, loneliness, insecurity, and alienation, as well as the neo-liberal culture of individualism and the breakdown of social ties (Fromm 2012; Lietaert 2010). Generally speaking, cohousing projects begin with a considerable motivational drive of residents who have a set of pragmatic goals (Mc Camant and Durrett 2011; Jenkis 2017; Rogel et al. 2018; Tummers 2016). The spread of cohousing as a housing model allows us to identify several typologies of cohousing and many distinct archetypal models of cohousing. Today, cohousing is also considered as one of many collaborative living models.

The first documented experience of cohousing in Italy dates back to 1985 (Guidotti 2015) in a rural area of the Emilia Romagna region, where “Il Mucchio”, a small community of four families, revitalized a hilly area. However, the term cohousing only emerged in Italy in the 2000s. Interest in cohousing was emphasized in research by the Milan Polytechnic investigating the housing conditions of the Milanese; it highlighted participants’ propensity to share and their interest in cohousing (Meroni 2007). Based on this research, the first cohousing project was proposed by a private organization, the Urban Village Bovisa 01. Since then, various forms of cohousing experiences and experiments have emerged throughout Italy.

An analysis of the information available on current experiences allows for the identification of at least three distinct cohousing models that have developed in Italy over the last fifteen years: developer-led cohousing (Chiodelli 2015), intentional communities (Guidotti 2015) and public cohousing (Maggio 2023).

The contribution intends to go through the forms of cohousing existing in Italy today, highlighting their criticalities and potential.