Abitare inclusivo. Il carattere sociale nel progetto delle Older Women’s Cohousing = L’habitat inclusif. Le caractère social dans le projet des Older Women’s Cohousing

Contemporary society is reflected in the living space, whose daily experience is multifaceted and crossed by a subtle but constant change difficult to detect in real time and to lead back to traditional housing models based on clear spatial dichotomies. Private and public space, internal and external, domestic and work are antithetical concepts that appear blurred and partly overtaken by new values based more
on ‘division/separation’ and ‘sharing/cooperation’, especially because houses are no longer inhabited only by ‘families’, a term which today defines forms of relationships different from the past, but heterogeneous combinations of people who build, by choice or necessity, forms of cohabitation.
Living together has become a primary motivator for people experimenting with shared housing arrangements. For the elderly, in particular, cohousing offers a means to adapt to changing health conditions while mitigating isolation. Within the international context, older women’s cohousing is the main housing offer to support the socialization of elderly women living alone. This contribution explores the potential interpretative and conceptual effects of cohousing models specifically tailored for women who are victims of violence, focusing on how such arrangements can influence their psycho-physical health and social well-being. To this end, the analysis of best practices is instrumental.
Specifically, the analysis of national and foreign case-studies and the subsequent systematization of data allow the authors to identify well-being indicators based not only on objective and necessary requirements – sound, thermal, visual well-being –, but also on residence aspects that impact on people social sphere. The identified requirements outline a framework of possible areas of action and open and inclusive models of living together, presenting themselves as a manifesto for new forms of shared housing.