Cooperative co-housing to promote healthy and accompanied ageing in place (Co-aging). Case studies of architectural viability in obsolete neighborhoods in Malaga.

Abstract

Spain is facing a progressive aging of its population and the inversion of its population pyramid, also inverting the income/expense balance of the Estate and reducing its agency to control the housing market by construction. Our transdisciplinary project proposes cooperative co-housing ways of living inside the existing housing stock of obsolete and aged neighbourhoods in Málaga (south Spain). Re-densifying by sharing the use of obsolete too-big family houses, while renting the others, will provide a solution to the problems of both unwanted loneliness, active and financially independent aging, while increasing and re-activating the housing rental stock. By combining the results of focal meetings realized with inhabitants of the case study neighbourhoods, and the analysis of the specific housing units via several teaching projects at different pre- and post-graduate levels and authors’ design studies, we will test the architectural viability of our project by providing specific on-site solutions to the study cases.