Property and values: the affordability, accessibility, and autonomy of collaborative housing

Abstract

Not all approaches to collaborative housing deliver equally on affordability, accessibility, and autonomy. Some cases may become expensive or enclaved, while others that are accessible and affordable may have little collaboration. This paper compares eight cases of collaborative housing in Milan and Amsterdam to understand how collaboration projects deal with demands for affordability, accessibility, and autonomy. We identify four categories of collaborative housing—common, self-promoted, co-managed, and developer-led—along the two axes of tenure type and project initiator. Trade-offs in affordability, accessibility, and autonomy always persist; however, each can be fostered by three of the types (all but developer-led) when explicitly established as core values of the project.