Self-build communities: the rationale and experiences of group-build (Baugruppen) housing development in Germany

Iqbal Hamiduddin and Nick Gallent

Housing Studies, 2016, vol. 31, issue 4, 365-383

Abstract: Group-build housing developments can bring together the cost and customisation benefits regularly attributed to self-build housing with a communitarian ethos associated with ‘intentional’ communities. This paper presents an initial examination of the rationale, motivations and social experiences of group-build housing from Germany, where over half of all new homes are produced independently from volume-build developers. The paper aims, firstly, to test the hypothesis that group-build delivers general ‘community’ benefits; secondly, to contribute to an understanding of the processes leading to successful schemes; and lastly, to demonstrate that by making individual home building dependent on the success of a larger group, collective interests can prevail over personal pursuit. This research draws attention to the motivations, the social experiences through the development process and the social legacy -- aspects of particular interest for policy-makers as well as prospective builders -- of group-build housing projects.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2015.1091920

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