Coliving as a cure for urban loneliness?

Although we seem to live in a world where we are constantly connected through chats, stories, likes and notifications, we feel more lonely than ever before. This paradox even has a name – it’s called hyperconnectivity, and it refers to the intense and ubiquitous connection between people through technology. In short, it’s that familiar situation where at one moment we’re arranging meetings with friends via Messenger, dealing with work stuff on email, and adding hearts to photos on Instagram. The problem is that hyperconnectivity is significantly changing the way we communicate with each other, the way we form relationships and, as a result, the way we function within society. It means that while we are constantly accessible, it also means that the line between work and private life is much more easily blurred and communication with others, while more frequent, is also much more superficial. The constant dinging of notifications reduces the ability to concentrate and contributes to anxieties, including the now familiar FOMO – ‘fear of missing out’. And so, while we may be able to experience people from all over the world up close through the reels, we end up feeling more alienated than connected in any way. Science uses the term “extendedloneliness” for this condition, a loneliness caused by an excess of superficial connections, not a lack of them, as in “normal” loneliness.

Quality over quantity – coliving as an “urban village”

So let’s recap – we are facing community fragmentation due to massive urbanization and hyperconnectivity, which is resulting in unprecedented loneliness. Can coliving, a concept that promises community, authenticity and proximity, solve this problem? Can dinners together, movie nights, or the fact that we talk to someone while we cook, help with loneliness?
Coliving should be more than just roommates – it should be a space where community and shared values play a central role. Living there should help build not only social resilience but also emotional resilience. But is this happening in reality? Is coliving just another business model to lure young people into overpriced co-living? Let’s look at the data – for example, the Israeli network Venn reports that after six months of coliving, loneliness dropped by 50% for the people studied. Research by the Philippines’ MyTown project produced similar results – 71% of male and female tenants said coliving significantly reduced their feelings of isolation, and 90% even described it as “a new home away from their original home”. A study from Germany, on the other hand, compared residents of cohousing communities with people in traditional neighbourhoods during the covid period and found that cohousing residents reported lower rates of depression and anxiety and were more likely to use social support in case of conflict instead of retreating into isolation.

Coliving is sometimes presented as a sophisticated concept that has to emerge within sophisticated architectural solutions, and often involves community managers or mentors to help prevent conflict. But studies clearly show that a rooftop bar or coach is not so necessary. In fact, even small face-to-face meetings (a short conversation, cooking together, recounting experiences at work) reduce feelings of loneliness more than hours of online communication. So it’s not so much about the amount of interactions that will take place in the design lounges as it is about their depth. The quality of the interactions is clearly more important than their quantity. In short, having someone make you a cup of tea when you’re sick and ask how you’re doing is above all the hearts on Instagram.

Coliving can thus be seen as a response to a deeper need in today’s society – not to be alone. It’s fair to say that it’s not for everyone, but for many people it can be a modern form of urban village – a place where we know each other, help each other out when we need to, and where we can just stop and chat for a while. A safe and familiar space surrounded by a jungle of superficial urban relationships. At the same time, coliving allows for a relatively high degree of flexibility that we can appreciate in the face of future challenges such as the climate crisis or an ageing population. It can aspire to become the new urban standard not only for the much-heralded young, but also for the elderly, who will increasingly seek a safe yet lively and sufficiently interactive environment.

About the author

Hana Janská works as a sociologist, consultant, facilitator and lecturer. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. As a cultural and urban sociologist she has studied the functioning of communities of different scales in Sweden, Austria and Portugal. In her work, she tries to reach, engage and connect the widest possible range of actors. They are the key to creating better places for all to live in the long term. He strives for a future where municipalities have urban sociologists as well as urban architects. She co-founded Socionaut. She currently works as an analyst at STEM.

Sources used

• A German study comparing people living in coliving and traditional neighbourhoods.
• The European Commission’s study on solitude in. 2022.
• NIVEA study.
• Venn coliving study.
• Loneliness in Europe (2024), Sylke V. Schnepf, Béatrice d’Hombres, Caterina Mauri