We are very excited to see how increasingly around the world, local governments are supporting the emergence of community-led projects (cohousing, housing cooperatives/building groups) that aim to meet the housing needs of their members through the provision of affordable housing. On the blog we publish good practice from cities around the world. We very much hope that similar projects will also be developed in Poland!
We would like to share our knowledge and experience with interested local governments. We would be happy to advise you on developing ways to promote community-led housing in Polish cities. We invite you to contact us and to keep an eye on our website.
What do cities gain? What goals can they pursue?
- support for community-led housing can be part of a housing policy aimed at providing affordable housing
- ensuring a high quality of life and urban spaces by allowing land to be developed in a way that best meets the needs of residents
- encouraging innovation and green solutions
- responding to the needs of an ageing society, combating loneliness, increasing the quality of life of older people by supporting senior cohousing
- exploiting the potential of housing co-operatives to develop unattractive plots (small, out of shape), adapt buildings which have not previously been used for housing purposes or revitalise degraded areas
- influencing the quality of development, for example by formulating appropriate evaluation criteria in tenders for cooperatives’ offers concerning the quality of the building, the way the plot is developed, the architectural design, the public space, etc.
- encouraging people from other cities and countries to settle down thanks to an alternative and innovative approach to housing policy implementation
Solutions from other cities
We look at what is happening in the area of community-led housing in other cities and write about it on the blog. To make it easier to find articles on what local authorities can do, we provide links to the articles.
- Community Land Trust – a solution to promote the development of local communities, including meeting their housing needs
- How Barcelona helped the La Borda cooperative.
