Challenge
Research on senior cohousing communities highlights that one of the main challenges currently facing these housing cooperatives is generational renewal. Ensuring a balanced intake of new members is essential to maintaining, over time, a sustainable ratio of residents requiring different levels of support, both economically and socially. Against this backdrop, the study aimed to identify the main concerns and needs of senior cohousing communities regarding generational renewal, while also examining the strategies that housing cooperatives are developing and implementing to address this challenge.
Response
The study adopted a qualitative case study methodology to provide an in-depth understanding of the key concerns and challenges related to generational renewal, as expressed by members of the selected senior housing cooperatives. It also explored the main strategies that these cooperatives have developed or implemented to address this issue.
In particular, the research followed a bottom-up approach, placing cooperative members—both long-standing residents and more recently admitted members—at the centre of the analysis.
The study resulted in a report identifying the main challenges and strategies associated with four key stages of generational renewal: attracting new members, onboarding new residents, everyday community life, and participation in governance. The full report is available at:
https://hispacoop.es/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/INFORME_Relevo-Generacional-Cohousing-Senior.pdf
Photo by Regina Victorica on Unsplash.