Sharing space, time, and technology : the lived experience of smart home technologies in cohousing

As smart home technologies become pervasive, more knowledge is needed on their impact on everyday living. New urban cohousing has been studied avidly but there is less research on technologies in this context. This article investigates the lived experience of smart home technologies in cohousing with focus on how technologies shape the use of shared spaces and social relations. Based on interviews with residents and managers of a Finnish cohousing block, the results highlight the diversity of residents and practices in cohousing, and smart home technologies as a mundane necessity. The study shows how public cohousing is subtly infiltrated by technologies, making it similar to commercial coliving. We demonstrate how technologies provide an interface to shared resources, and how disciplinary technologies impede sharing, assert control on residents, and undermine their agency, contradicting the values of cohousing. A key implication is that smart home technologies should be more intentionally designed to align with the values and practices of cohousing communities.