SällBo: The Swedish apartment building where seniors over 70 live alongside young Swedes and migrants.

Hannah Ahmadi Holmqvist moved to SällBo, the intergenerational apartment building that brings together young and old people, in Helsingborg, a small city in southern Sweden, when she was 22, in 2020. Between parties, barbecues in the garden, and afternoon tea, she met and fell in love with a foreign boy, a migrant, a little younger than her. And today the two are married and have a daughter, one of the various SällBo baby born since then.

SällBo, whose name comes from the union of company, which in Swedish means “company”, and bo, "casa," is a unique public housing project in Europe, one that embraces "shared living," cutting across demographics and the geographic origins of residents. Of the 51 apartments in the building, 31 are inhabited by people over 65-70, another 10 are reserved for young foreigners, primarily Afghans; the remaining 10 are inhabited by young people who are not necessarily multi-generational Swedes, but who are "well integrated into local society."

All the apartments are independent, and each resident has their own home. But then there are the shared spaces, and there are many of them: kitchens, laundry rooms, living rooms, sports rooms, hobby rooms, studies, and libraries. These are places where the intergenerational community meets, where young Asians and young Swedes speak the same language and do the same things. In close contact with the older residents, who here have found the true vaccine against loneliness. 

Cover photo from www.innovation.helsingborg.se/en/initiativ/sallbo

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