Co-Living is not an invention of the modern age, it is also not an invention in the narrow sense, but a concept that was formed out of necessity. Originally created in Europe in the 19th century, there was a first zenith in the years of the 1968 youth revolution when European and worldwide communities emerged. As part of the hippie movement, in which mostly young people from all over the world came together to protest and leave the conservative encrusted society and shared their personal living space. The residential communities were initially formed as a place and were renewed again and again through the passage and influx of people and enriched in the experience of living together.

Where people live together, especially if they come from different cultures, enrichment arises, but conflicts can also arise, which in turn require solutions. The wealth of experience of this early period of the communities is today the benchmark for modern concepts in Co-Living, which no longer arise from necessity, but rather from the desire to create a higher quality of living in urban areas.

The source of the co-living concept arises from the desire for co-housing, the common use of a living area by people who do not necessarily have to be related or friends. Alliances of convenience are formed which primarily conserve the economic resources of the individual and, in the second step, protect against loneliness. What in German profane “WG” means, flat-sharing community, is a popular concept among students, but more and more senior citizens are finding themselves together in shared apartments. So, if we look closely, we always see common ground, why residential communities arise. They are formed organically through the initiative of individuals. Like-minded people like to group.

There was a time in Korea when a switch was thrown in urban development; people moved from their rural village communities to the cities, especially Seoul, between the 1960s and 1990s. Where they previously lived in fixed communities and shared daily life with one another, they were reshuffled in apartment blocks, suddenly Koreans from different regions were living together as neighbors. But that was not a problem insofar as residential silos in the big city had their doors open to everyone. The neighbors visited each other and exchanged food and information. The leases were longer than today and the residents stayed longer in an apartment, which made it easier to establish and maintain social contacts.

With the investment machinery in the real estate industry turning ever faster and especially after the Asian economic crisis of 1998, these ties broke more and more. There were millions of layoffs in the companies, there were payment defaults, personal bankruptcies, and dramatic family fates. The familiar, the reliable, had been lost. The struggle for personal survival began. This urge to survive unconditionally, the pressure of competition, the pressure to learn for students were the results of this crisis. Most Koreans in the cities had to move almost at the same time due to the changed living conditions. The influx into the cities from the rural areas was additionally fueled, the neighbor was no longer part of the community, but a competitor for housing and jobs. An ice age of cohabitation began. The doors stayed locked. Where life used to take place a lot in the apartment blocks, it has now been moved outside. People visited each other less, no longer wanted to show their privacy. The boom in restaurants and franchises began, also here a result of the economic crisis because many unemployed people built their second existence in this way. The developments went hand in hand. And together they created a climate of social cooling.

But humans are social beings and the desire for community is in their nature. The horrific rental prices in Seoul, the growing number of single households, the formation of new interest groups, all of this is the breeding ground for a new form of living together. While everything was self-organized in co-housing, in an economic power like Korea it is inevitable that the strong demand is met by good offers. Co-living is the answer to this demand. Conceptually prepared by companies like Glocaloca, the market is also boarded by the usual suspects, by the large corporations who operate purely through predatory competition with their financial power and want to make profit from every trend, without having understood the core business. Be that as it may, there is a strong demand for shared apartments that also include external services. The provision of housing at affordable prices is one thing; the addition of meaningful services such as further training, culture, catering, pet service, to name just a few, are a decisive criterion and create additional value.

A change is currently taking place in Korean society. Small oases of quality of life emerge from the tiredness of frenetic competition. The work-life balance has arrived in Korea. While in the 60s and 70s European youth tried their hand at Asian philosophies, learned meditation and wisdom, more and more Koreans are discovering the beneficial effects of European serenity, moments of enjoyment, and comfort. What is called “hygge” in Northern Europe is enjoying increasing popularity in Korea. The personal interpersonal exchange beyond the digital is a burgeoning phenomenon, at least in more intellectual circles and among students with international ambitions. The market for co-living will literally explode in Korea in the next 10 years and take other social classes with it. That is quite sure.