Lessons From Self-Organized Housing Communities

The term “commons”, originally used to describe natural resources, has expanded to include both natural and human-created resources.  Following James Quilligan’s work, a commons can be described as the inherited or created resources that we organize, use and steward throughout our lifetime and pass on to future generations (see Global Commons Trust, http://globalcommonstrust.org/?page_id=11 ).

Housing is not simply a commodity to be produced in the marketplace.  Fundamentally, housing is a basic human need.  In this regard, it is no different from the basic human need for water, air or food necessary for human survival.  Although this characteristic places housing well within the understanding of a commons, as a society, we tend to limit our view of housing to that of a private good. 

While it is true that an individual housing unit does possess characteristics of a private good in the conventional economic sense that it is both “excludable” (i.e., an individual household is given exclusive use of a housing unit) and “rival” (i.e., one household's occupancy takes the housing unit out of the pool of available housing), the housing stock as a whole may actually possess characteristics of a commons.  For instance, social scientists often argue that society benefits from having affordable housing and stronger social systems.  In other words, people find value in the knowledge that their fellow citizens are adequately housed.  This added value is not created by the market or by government, but is collectively created by people in the community. 

Self-organized housing communities such as housing co-operatives, intentional communities, co-housing and eco-villages, also exhibit some characteristics of a commons.  Comments from residents suggest they are drawn to a vision of housing that extends beyond the narrow definition of housing as a commodity – they are seeking community and a sense of belonging.  “The relationships are what make it all work and all worthwhile”[1].  “Living alone, or in a contemporary nuclear family, people have lots of privacy, but often not as much community life as they want or need.”[2]  “We’re longing for a way of life that’s warmer, kinder, more wholesome, more affordable, more co-operative, and more connected”.[3]  

People who chose these options are clearly looking for something more than just a roof over their heads - they are yearning to be in relationship with each other.  Relationships are a key feature of a commons.  In the commons literature, relationships are often described as the process of "commoning” (i.e., the social process of people coming together to make decisions about how the common resources are produced and managed).

Another characteristic of these communities is that they involve residents in the production process, whether it is simply at the design stage or it extends beyond that all the way through the construction process itself.  Involving users in the production of their own resources, a process James Quilligan describes as co-production, is a characteristic of a commons.  Residents are also involved in managing their housing communities, whether through strata councils, homeowners’ associations, informal residents’ committees or other similar institutions.  This, too, is a key feature of a commons, a process Quilligan refers to as co-governance.

While none of these housing communities would likely claim they have created a housing commons, it is striking to notice how many characteristics of a commons they do embody.  These models should provide plenty of food for thought when thinking about how we can collectively create a housing commons. 

  

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[1] Durrett, C. (2009)  The Senior Cohousing Handbook.  Gabriola Island, BC:  New Society Publishers.

[2] McCamant K. & Durrett, C.  (1988).  Cohousing:  A Contemporary Approach To Housing Ourselves.  Berkeley, California:  Habitat Press/Ten Speed Press.

[3] Christian D.L. (2003)  Creating a Life Together:  Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities.  Gabriola Island, BC:  New Society Publishers.