Have you ever heard the saying “it takes a village to raise a child?” Well, where I live, most people do not know the name of their next door neighbor.

This isolation can cause loneliness, but it is more than that. Having a community is helping people do jobs they can’t, it’s lending tools, it’s teaching someone something their parents never taught them, and more.

Luckily, there is a solution that is becoming common in both co-housing and eco-villages around the world. They utilize common areas or community centers, as well as outdoor spaces(such as courtyards or rooftop gardens). While you still have your private home with your own kitchen, you also have these spaces which are open to everyone.

Here are some ideas you might see in these common spaces:

  • Indoor play area. In some, the retired senior citizens who like to keep busy volunteer to watch children in these areas while parents are at work.
  • Dining room big enough to fit every person who lives there and guests.
  • Community Kitchen. People take turns cooking, or they have occasional dinners together.
  • Private office spaces (for work-from-home workers who still want to be around people).
  • Tiny libraries.
  • Outdoor play area.
  • Outdoor sitting spaces.
  • Community gardens and/or a greenhouse.

More Ideas:

  • Window awnings which utilize passive solar, so the sun is blocked in the summer but not the winter
  • A central courtyard for passive cooling. Examples: Skywells (China), Tsubo-niwa (Japan). Thevenin @beehaw.org adds that a retractable cover of some kind might be important to protect from wind pressure.
  • Better insulation for better temperature control, and sound proofing.
  • Bird-safe windows
  • Rainwater collection for watering plants (or, the more expensive option: for piping into toilets)
  • White roofs for cooling in hot climates, dark roofs for warming in cold climates

Recommended Video:

What else would improve apartment buildings?

  • Elise@beehaw.orgEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    Iirc Moroccan houses would be a good blueprint because they use passive cooling. Inside it’s like 20 degrees. I might be remembering wrong, but they have this central space that opens at the top and this allows the wind to blow through somehow. This picture reminded me of that.

    Another thing would be proper sound isolation, that really helps people get along better in the city. It always baffles me how big the differences are between buildings.

    • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      They are a good choice for places with climates like Morocco. Passive cooling is the last thing you want in say Norway for most of the year.

      • Elise@beehaw.orgEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        How hot are the summers there? Down in Germany they can be unbearable, as airco simply wasn’t a thing here.

        • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          Even in the south in Oslo temperatures above 30C can happen, but are hardly common. So even with climate change, the climate would be about what Germany used to have.

          • Elise@beehaw.orgEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            Ya, Germany will be more like France, France like Spain, and I suppose Spain like Morocco?

            I met a seasoned expert once at an expo l; he said it’ll all move up north and we cannot stop that. The real question for us is how can we slow it down to ensure its capacity to adapt isn’t overwhelmed, which would invariably increase the risk of an ecological collapse.

    • Blair@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      Good points!

      You’re absolutely right about courtyards! I’ve read about them being used all over the world! For example, in China, they are called(in English) “Skywells”. The other thing I like about courtyards is that they can give kids a safer space to play, or even just a little greenery.

      Would you mind if I edit my post to add your ideas to the list with credit to you?