Does Cohousing include Accidentally Intentional Communities?

[Mary B.]

We hear a lot of statements to the effect that 'intentional community' is another way to describe cohousing.

So is the concept of cohousing strictly about intentional coho planning? Or does it also include other organic forms of community which may end up sharing some of the same basic precepts and concerns, like sharing core spaces and assets, attracting like-minded people, and finding a way to agree on major decisions and principles?

I'm thinking for instance of tiny house communities and multi-family farms, which may not have started out with a firm idea of cohousing in mind, but end up embodying many of the same advantages and challenges ...

[JasminaJ]

I think my question would be, for what purpose? I mean, why are you asking?
If just generally, cohousings have a tighter definition of their community than just sharing space, although when I looked up the definition just now, that's pretty much the definition of cohousing. So yea, I guess any community that shares common spaces would be considered cohousing?

I'm surprised no one has come up with a better definition yet.

[hesterkw]

I'd say intentionality is important to the definition, but not the concept.

The support network cohousing seeks to replicate can be a feature of many traditional communities, which have fallen away from some types of modern living. But it would seem perverse to say a small village with a green and a village hall is therefore cohousing.

The things that cohousing aims for: community, support, sharing, can be achieved in many ways. Cohousing is one of them.

[garyronstadt]

The definitions that are out there are pretty sloppy. People who form cohousing communities work hard to design the whole infrastructure. I don't think you can just loosely apply the term 'cohousing' to any group that just decides to have a community room or a pool.