“The two of us could share our problems and talk about them.” He would love to start a new relationship – at an age when you become physically weaker and your parents start to die. Lots of single women Around 75 per cent of people on income support in Basel live alone or in care homes, according to the cantonal government. The number of one-person households is increasing including among the younger generation, as families with children forsake the city for somewhere quieter. “The canton is promoting services and infrastructure more tailored to young families,” says Melanie Imhof, a spokeswoman for the cantonal government. “Many highly qualified women delay living with a partner,” explains Luca Pattaroni, who is a professor at the Urban Sociology Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). The property sector has spotted a gap in the market and started to develop co-living solutions such as one-room apartments in buildings with shared communal spaces. “If you build apartment blocks without anywhere for residents to interact apart from the stairs and lift, it limits social contact even more,” says Thomas Pfluger, who manages a national loneliness prevention scheme called “connect!”. Pattaroni cites the example of cooperatives that have created communal areas in their building. He also mentions the idea of co-living clusters, which are shared dwelling units consisting of private studios and communal areas. “Loneliness can lead to depression,” the professor says. “It is a key factor in our concerns regarding The Kaserne is a popular cultural venue in Basel. Public spaces serve an important purpose for people who live on their own. Photo: Keystone mental health.” Does Basel have more lonely people than anywhere else in Switzerland? Thomas Pfluger: “The people of Basel see themselves as a convivial bunch who value tradition. Take the city’s famous carnival or autumn fair, for example.” *Name has been changed Loneliness not only affects the elderly – a third of all one-person households in Basel-Stadt are aged between 20 and 40. Swiss Review / January 2025 / No.1 22 Report
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