Have you ever wondered what it's like to develop your own multi-unit housing? How about living in a social community where you commit to making decisions together, sharing communal meals, and supporting your neighbours?

Amid a growing loneliness epidemic, many people are increasingly interested in cohousing—a form of intentional community where residents choose to develop a home together and cultivate a more social, supportive community of neighbours. However, cohousing communities face many challenges in developing housing, including expensive land, significant time and financial commitments, and complex municipal policy processes.

Happy Cities collaborated with local developer Tomo Spaces, a creative design team (Lanefab and MA+HG Architects), and Our Urban Village to pilot a new form of socially connected, missing middle housing called “cohousing lite.” This innovative model aims to reduce the barriers that prevent many cohousing projects from coming to fruition. Through this collaboration, we also explored how intentional design choices could help increase opportunities for social connections among neighbours, measuring how residents' health, social connection, and belonging changed before and after move in.

Join Leslie Shieh, developer for Our Urban Village, and Madeleine Hebert, lead researcher from Happy Cities, to learn about the findings from the research and key lessons for building an urban cohousing village. Hear from special guests Marianne Amodio, MA + HG Architects, and Rodrigo Alba, resident of Our Urban Village, about their experiences designing and living in the building.

Learn more about this research: happycities.com/projects/tomo-on-main

Click here or on the EVENT LINK to register for this free webinar.