In a city where living alone can cost more than half your paycheck, shared living is emerging as more than just a compromise.
If you’ve ever scrolled through housing listings in Taiwan with a modest budget, you’re likely familiar with a common dilemma: listings within your price range are often subpar, featuring options like rooftop add-ons or cramped subdivided rooms. Looking for a place with an elevator, basic amenities, and a decent quality of life? Be prepared to pay a significant premium.
According to Julius Baer’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2025, Taipei now ranks 12th globally in terms of urban cost-of-living, surpassing even Tokyo. Renters are feeling the squeeze.
Taiwan’s Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reports that rental prices have been steadily rising since 2021, reaching a 10-year high in 2023. While the annual growth of 2.45% may not seem alarming, the impact is significant for many renters.
In 2024, the average monthly salary for full-time employees stood at NT$40,123 (US$1,350). Yet in Taipei and New Taipei, a 10-ping (roughly 33-m²) studio costs around NT$26,000 per month, which amounts to over 60% of a renter’s income. This figure far exceeds the OECD’s recommended threshold, which suggests housing costs should not exceed 30% of a renter’s income. As wages stagnate and rents continue to rise, finding housing increasingly feels less like a lifestyle choice and more like choosing the lesser of many evils.
When housing becomes an extension of life
In response to skyrocketing rental prices, there has been a renewed interest in an age-old concept: co-living.
Originating in 1970s Denmark, where about 35 households formed a “co-housing” community near small lakes, the idea involved a shared courtyard between two rows of houses, fostering not just a shared space but a shared daily life. Since then, the spirit of communal living has evolved into various forms across the globe, offering a solution to urban loneliness, fragmented lifestyles, and economic hardship.
Taiwan’s co-living ecosystem gained momentum in 2014 with the emergence of 9floor, a pioneer in professional co-living spaces. 9floor’s model begins by identifying idle urban spaces, collaborating with landlords to revitalize properties, and reimagining their design to foster shared experiences. While initially a rental agency, 9floor has always aimed to go beyond simply providing housing by cultivating a strong sense of community.
This concept remains relatively unfamiliar in Taiwan, where the housing search often focuses on practicality and feasibility. In contrast, 9floor promotes the idea that co-living is not just an affordable or accessible fallback — it’s a lifestyle worth choosing, capable of offering as much, if not more, fulfillment than high-end individual rentals.
Its slogan, “You might be renting a place, but you’re living on your own terms,” encourages tenants to recognize the agency they still have over their environment. It reminds them of the opportunities for personal growth and connection, even when financial limitations or job demands may leave them feeling boxed in by a “co-living-or-nothing” ultimatum.
“In other countries, co-living isn’t just about renting, but in Taiwan, the two are easily conflated,” says 9floor Senior Manager for Community Relations Yang Bosian.
Over time, the company’s concept has evolved from small, family-style co-living spaces to managing entire buildings that seamlessly integrate residential life with community design. Today, the team views itself as a “companion to urban life,” providing not just a place to stay, but also support in daily living, fostering a holistic experience for its residents.
At 9floor’s co-living space, 9floor Pure, residents can find rooms of various sizes and layouts, alongside communal kitchens, multi-use classrooms, and even a living room area equipped with a projector and screen for hosting movie nights.
While 9floor organizes most of the events at 9floor Pure, the company also encourages tenant-led community initiatives by inviting residents to become “seed members.” These individuals contribute their talents in exchange for rent discounts, whether it’s coordinating yoga classes or painting murals in shared spaces, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement within the community.
A search for belonging
For young people entering the workforce or those newly relocated to Taiwan, commercial co-living spaces offer a flexible, short-term solution. However, a different group has emerged, approaching co-living through the lens of housing justice, or ensuring everyone has affordable housing that promotes health, well-being, and upward mobility.
These individuals are experimenting with longer-term, community-driven living models, aiming to create more sustainable and equitable housing options that prioritize social impact over short-term convenience.
One example is the Collaborative Co-living Experiment in Yuanhe Social Housing, located in New Taipei’s Tucheng District. Initiated by the Department of Urban Development at the New Taipei City Government, the project enlisted housing advocacy group OURs (Organization of Urban Re-s) as the implementing partner. Unlike commercial co-living models, OURs operates as a secondary landlord, subleasing units from the government and inviting residents who share a common vision for community living.
Applicants must meet age requirements, submit a written proposal, and undergo interviews with existing tenants and the OURs team to ensure alignment of expectations. Once accepted, residents participate in self-governance, taking responsibility for designing community rules, managing shared budgets, and organizing events, supporting a collaborative and empowered living environment.
“There’s a high level of autonomy here,” says Wu Yu, OURs community marketing specialist and Yuanhe resident. “We hold monthly meetings that everyone must attend at least nine times a year, and each resident organizes at least four events to give back to the community.”
Shared meals and open conversations in the spacious communal kitchen have played a key role in helping residents build mutual trust, stimulating an environment where individual priorities evolve into shared values.
“We encourage everyone to talk about the topics they’re interested in, not to persuade one another, but simply to share,” Wu says. “Over time, these individual interests naturally grow into shared values.”
Another New Taipei project took the concept even further. In 2017, the city launched Taiwan’s first intergenerational co-living pilot in Sanxia, placing young renters and older adults in shared apartments to bridge generational divides. While lifestyle differences presented challenges, the experiment laid the groundwork for future models, demonstrating the potential for building cross-generational understanding and support.
In 2020, the city scaled up with its Central New Taipei Intergenerational Co-Living Plan, using its largest social housing complex in Xindian. The approach evolved from co-habitation into co-neighboring.
“Though initially the project was based on shared housing, the project gradually evolved into a community-building initiative,” says Li Yun, project operator at Jenyu Design, a firm focusing on urban revitalization through socially driven architecture and design.
“I used to live alone in a townhouse,” says Mr. Ji, a 65-year-old art teacher and member of the co-living community. “At first, it was strange seeing so many people coming and going whenever I come home, but now I help run events, make props, and give back to the community while I still can.”
Despite the different models, all co-living projects share one common thread: they redefine housing not as mere shelter, but as a shared, participatory lifestyle. Many residents report feeling more engaged, more connected, and more rooted in their communities, highlighting the transformative power of communal living.
Platform for urban possibility
Globally, co-living has evolved from a lifestyle trend into an integrated policy tool for cities. In Japan, Share Kanazawa combines elder care, youth housing, sheltered employment, and cultural events in a co-living model led by the social welfare organization Busshien. This initiative has not only revitalized underpopulated neighborhoods but also attracted young residents, enabling a vibrant, multi-generational community.
In Berlin, Baugruppen (building groups) enable residents to co-finance and co-develop their homes under a nonprofit structure, often supported by land-use policies or urban renewal budgets. Similarly, Zurich’s Kalkbreite Cooperative secures long-term land-use rights from the city and integrates residential, commercial, cultural, and social services within its buildings, unifying a diverse, self-sustaining community.
Taiwan’s co-living ecosystem, in contrast, remains largely in a pilot phase. Most initiatives depend on the efforts of individual teams or organizations and lack systemic support.
One of the biggest challenges is securing suitable urban space. Prime land is often controlled by developers, and even when property owners are open to collaboration, legal and architectural barriers limit the flexibility needed for co-living models to thrive.
Moreover, government programs are often constrained by annual budgets and shifting leadership, complicating continuity. Many participants note that current co-living policies tend to be framed narrowly around youth housing or welfare, rather than recognizing the broader lifestyle shifts that co-living can offer.
Yet these very challenges also present a chance for change. If co-living can be positioned at the intersection of urban planning, social policy, and architectural innovation, Taiwan could open the door to diverse and sustainable living models. This may involve learning from international cooperative housing systems, releasing long-term land use rights, or incorporating co-living into urban renewal and vacant property initiatives.
“Housing plays a huge role in our lives,” Wu says. “It’s no longer just about finding a place to sleep. People care. ‘Can I afford to buy a home?’ ‘If not, what alternatives do I have?’”
9floor’s Yang captures the essence of co-living with a story:
“There was once a Japanese-Taiwanese couple who moved in to our commercial co-living space with their five-year-old. When the parents were busy, other residents would help play with the child. That’s the spirit of co-living — not a rigid model, but an evolving lifestyle that adapts to people’s needs. It’s an open invitation to build the kind of life you want — together.”
