Welcome to our presentation of Swedish ... - Kollektivhus NU

Welcome to our presentation ofSwedish cohousing experiences!Photographer: Cecilia Enholm1 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nuThe photo is from the Collective House Trekanten in Stockholm. House-owner: Svenska Bostäder.

Snapshots from our history• With a few early exceptions, cohousing projects began to appeararound 1980.• Although radical founder of Swedish welfare politics, the labourmovement has never embraced cohousing.The roots are found inmiddle class ideas about gender equity and social rationality.• The first cohousing units had staff employed to arrange meals andtake care of laundry. Private housing companies took the lead.• The self-work model of today was conceptualized around 1980. Sincethen, a growing number of collective houses have seen the light ofday, built and managed by public housing companies.2 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu

In the Swedish context, ’cohousing’ covers• full-fledged collectives (mainly urban, a few rural)• eco-villages; normally separate dwellings united in eco-schemes• collective houses, designed to combine fully equipped privateapartments with collective living spaceIn total, these make up only a minute fraction of the housing market.The umbrella organization Kollektivhus NU strives to inform the publicabout the advantages of cohousing and create a more visible consumerdemand, and to stimulate housing companies to see cohousing as a viablealternative.3 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu

Today, there are around 44 functioningcollective houses – as recorded by the umbrellaorganization Kollektivhus NU, and they –• have, and make use of, space and equipment for collective cooking andjoint meals, with responsibility for cooking shared between theirmembers,• collectively manage avariety of other jointamenities such asguestroom(s), washingmachines, living room,media (journals,TV,computers), workshop,sauna etc.Photographer: Kerstin Kärnekull4 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu

These collective houses• were mainly created during the 1980s, with a new wave beginning inthe late 90s• are located in urban areas• are by and large new housing units, built by housing companies, mostof them municipal companies (parastatals)• represent most forms of occupation: individual tenancy (most frequentsolution), cooperative tenancy, and cooperative ownership• vary greatly in size, from less than 10 to more than 180 flats(i.e.households)• vary in degree of collective organization (though all have collectivespace in addition to the private flats)5 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu

During the 1990s, a collectivehouse form designed for ‘thesecond half of life’ came to life• This version was designed to servethe needs of people in the secondhalf of life – 40 years or older,with no children in the household.It attracts not least senior citizenswho prefer a moderate level ofcollectivity.Photographer: Kerstin Kärnekull• Of the 44 collective houses, 8belong to this category, and moreare to come. Politicians see themas an answer to the ‘aging’ of thepopulation and senior citizens’needs for togetherness andsecurity.6 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nuBuffét at Färdknäppen, Stockholm. House-owner: Familjebostäder.

Cohousing unitsin Sweden■ LuleåVialenAll but very few of thecollective houses arefound in the southernpart of Sweden, mainlyin the larger cities.Majbacken bogemenskap,MajornaKornet, Bo i gemenskap,Fässberg, MölndalTrädet, KortedalaStacken, BergsjönRussinetRegnbågenFiolenSlottet7 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu■ Borås■ GöteborgFortunaTunnan■ Landskrona■ Lund■ MalmöTersen■ HelsingborgPåängen■ Falun■ ÖrebroVildsvinet■ Växjö■ LinköpingStolplyckanSämjanYxanKollektivhus 2010BlomstretBlendaSlånbäretBoAktiv Landgången,Bunkeflostrand■ Gävle■ Uppsala■ StockholmSödra Stations kollektivhus,SödermalmSvärdet, Södermalm,Tullstugan, SödermalmSockenstugan, SkarpnäckElfvinggården, BrommaCigarrlådan, FarstaFristad, SpångaEKBO/Gebers, SköndalDunderbacken, AxelsbergFärdknäppen, SödermalmKOMBO, södra StockholmSolhem, Älmsta,VäddöUtkiken, SödermalmRio, GärdetTrekanten, LiljeholmenTaljan, SödermalmHässelby FamiljehotellSjöfarten, Hammarby SjöstadLergöken, SödertäljeÄngviksgården,VärmdöKupan, ÄlvsjöVildkornet (Vårbrodden),VällingbyFullersta Backe, HuddingePrästgårdshagen, ÄlvsjöOrion (4 pkthus), HägerstenTre Portar, Skarpnäck

Common to the Swedishcollective houses are• that they are run by a residents’organization with an elected board,regular meetings and democraticdecision-making processesPhotographer: Ingrid Sillén• that in most of them, the residents haveentered agreements to share –irrespective of sex – defined commontasks such as cooking, cleaning andadministrationChildren do the cooking at Södra Station, Stockholm.• that joint meals are offered betweenone and seven days a week.8 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nuCultivators at Fullersta Backe, Huddinge. House-owner: Huge Fastigheter AB

No victory is certain! Challenges faced by thecollective houses are:• That, in relation to the landlord, cohousing tenants succeed inmaintaining a degree of control over the selection of new tenants• That the landlord is made to understand and support the needs linkedto this form of tenancy• That, in the case of private or cooperate ownership, the collectivehouse can establish and successfully defend its character in the face ofmarket competition for urban housingTullstugan, Stockholm Tersen, Falun Stolplyckan,LinköpingKornet, Mölndal Majbacken, Göteborg Regnbågen, Lund Tunnan, Borås Slottet, Lund9 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nu

How do we ensure that progress is secured?• by influencing public opinion to see and realize that cohousinggenerally enables a freedom of choice that does not exist inconventional housing, a kind of luxury living that offers many spatialand social possibilities.• by making politicians, technicians and managers of housing companiesaccept the social and practical values of collective houses, inparticular for single parents, families with children and senior people.Party at Blenda, Uppsala. Meeting at Tullstugan, Stockholm. Cake-party,Tre Portar, Skarpnäck. Building construction,Tersen, Falun.The Exhibition is sponsored byDick Urban Vestbro, chairman, Kollektivhus NU10 Kollektivhus NU • www.kollektivhus.nuProduced by: Bertil Egerö, Elsa Grip and Ingrid Sillén, 2010 • e-mail Kollektivhus NU: kollektivhus.nu@gmail.com