Cooperatives, control or compromise? The changing role of participation in Norwegian housing

Abstract

What does it mean to participate? Participation used to be an ideological pursuit, conducted for the greater good of society; today, however, the motives and intentions behind it, are not so straightforward. This paper presents examples of community participation in Norwegian housing, through which early egalitarian impulses can be seen to clash with the more recent intentions of private developers and a public desire for detached family homes. The situation is, however, changing: desirable development land is running out as the Norwegian population grows - surely we must participate again, but with whom and to what end?