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More and more of the world's population are moving into the cities and living in apartment complexes. Apartment dwellers live in close proximity to their neighbors, but are far less likely to have any interaction with their neighbors than those that live in houses. Thus apartment dwellers often lack any sense of community. As more apartments complexes go up around the world, I would like to see people designing them with a sense of community in mind.
What I am proposing is not as intense as a 'commune' or 'co-op.' These types of housing are not for everyone, as the idea of communally working out cooking, cleaning, and other chores with a building full of strangers can be an intimidating prospect. I'm thinking more along the lines of simple changes that anyone designing or re-designing an apartment complex could easily integrate. There are two elements I would like to see in apartment living that would foster a sense of community. One is buildings designed with more communal spaces. Think more like the kind of design a college dorm has but with adults in mind. Put a little extra space in the laundry room for a comfy couch and a coffee table, make it a space people might want to hang out and read a magazine while waiting for their clothes to dry. Put a little community book shelf in one corner. Put in a communal 'living room' area with a tv, a stereo, and some couches, or a modest 'study' with desks and a book shelf, or a little outdoor patio area with a barbecue and pick nick table. Apartment living can feel so confining, having a few communal spaces gives apartment dwellers some of the amenities of living in a house, while creating opportunities to meet your fellow apartment-dwellers. I know some more up-scale complexes have a gym, or a pool, or some outdoor areas. But I think with a few modest changes a complex at just about any price point can become a more welcoming place to live, and foster community. I stayed in an extended stay/apartment building in New Zealand that had an excellent layout along these lines: http://www.livingspace.net/ They mainly rented to students, but why should students have all the fun? The physical building plan is the first element I would like to see changed, the second would be for the apartment manager's job description to include fostering a sense community. This doesn't have to be a hugely time-consuming responsibility, I'm not talking camp counselor here. Something as simple as organizing a monthly or bimonthly informal get-together would make a huge difference. They could also work out a system for TV and/or barbecue usage, and throw a few used books in the library if it started to get depleted. And encourage residents to put together their own events that included their neighbors. This is the element I have never seen implemented in a housing situation since I left college. And this, I think, has got to be the most important. In summary, this idea is about a shift in attitudes when it comes to housing. For those of us who don't want to join a commune, and are too shy to strike up a conversation in the two seconds a week we actually see our neighbors in the hallway, we would like a sense of community too. |
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I should say that I have lived in apartments outside of crowded urban areas with various social areas, seats and bulletin board in laundry room, crowded "pool." I never really took advantage of those.