TU Delft
2022
Lang, Carriou, Czischke and others
The project titled "Mapping social innovation and collaboration in housing – Co-Lab Mapping" aims to address the scattered nature of existing research on collaborative housing. Developed in collaboration with Urbamonde and supported by the Dutch architecture firm Inbo, this initiative seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of various collaborative housing forms across Europe. Given the current lack of standardized definitions and comparative data, the Co-Lab Mapping project serves as a vital first step toward creating a validated categorization of these housing alternatives. The research focuses on nine countries where collaborative housing is well established: Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. By employing an iterative data collection approach that includes interviews, literature reviews, and validation workshops, the project aggregates data from national umbrella organizations. This collaborative effort is designed to facilitate mutual learning and communication among users across different regions and countries. Funded initially by the Delft Technology Fellowship and later by the Creative Industry – KIEM programme, the Co-Lab Mapping project represents a significant advancement in the field. It not only aims to analyze the characteristics of collaborative housing but also to contribute to ongoing scientific and applied debates. Ultimately, the project aspires to enhance understanding of collaborative housing’s challenges and opportunities, fostering innovation and collaboration in the housing sector.
The “Mapping social innovation and collaboration in housing – Co-Lab Mapping” is a project developed in collaboration with Urbamonde, and with support of the Dutch architecture firm Inbo.
Existing research on collaborative housing has been so far mainly based on qualitative case studies. Many umbrella organisations collect data on some forms of collaborative housing at regional and national level; however, data are scattered and there is a lack of standard definitions. This prevents a comparative understanding of the challenges and opportunities that these housing forms offer. Furthermore, comparative data are needed to facilitate mutual learning and communication amongst users across countries and regions.
Building on the conceptualisation of collaborative housing proposed by Lang, Carriou & Czischke (2020), the Co-Lab Mapping Project is a first scientific step to provide a validated categorisation of different collaborative housing forms in Europe. It also starts aggregating data on collaborative housing provided by national umbrella organisations, according to a set of pre-established filters. The aim of this project is to create the basis that helps compare and analyse the most salient characteristics of collaborative housing, and so bring current scientific and applied debates further.
The project focuses on nine countries where collaborative housing forms are well established and represented by national umbrella organisations; namely: Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The research applied an iterative data collection approach including a variety of techniques: interviews with key informants, literature review, a Delphi-panel (two rounds) drawing on insights from academic and practitioner experts from the selected countries, review of several national databases, and a validation workshop with our research partners, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Research process of the Co-Lab Mapping project (source: the authors)
The project was awarded with a grant by the Creative Industry – KIEM programme, a NWO programme whose purpose is to encourage and facilitate fundamental and industrial research. In the past, from January 2018 to December 2019, this project was funded by the Delft Technology Fellowship, granted to Dr Czischke in 2014.