New Approaches to Housing for the Second Half of Life

We are not only living longer than our grandparents – we are also working longer and remaining more active and enterprising than they did. Thus for many today the second half of life is marked by a broad and varied range of activities that call for freedom of action, whether one has a disability or other limitation or not. What types of housing will make it possible to shape this ever longer and more important phase of our lives in accord with our wishes and needs? In addition to the desire of most older people to remain in their homes, we are also seeing the emergence of new and novel communal types of housing, such as neighborhood and cohousing communities, shared apartments, integrated residential communities, assisted living, and group homes. Against this backdrop, noted authors consider the various aspects of the second phase of life. In addition, realized projects in Switzerland and Germany are presented and analyzed in terms of their practical feasibility. Andreas Huber has been studying the phenomenon of international retirement migration for a number of years. His primary research focuses are demography, dwelling in old age, quality development, and evaluation. He is the director of the CTI research project Neue Wohnmodelle für die zweite Lebenshälfte (New Housing Models for the Second Half of Life) and the author of numerous books on the subject.