Intentional community

An intentional community is a planned community which is often residentially designed from the beginning to have a high degree of social cohesion through a common interaction.

The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision. They will often follow an alternative lifestyle with particular goals or purposes in mind. They typically share some responsibilities and resources.

Intentional communities include collective households, cohousing communities, ecovillages, communes, survivalist retreats, religious orders, kibbutzim, ashrams, and housing cooperatives.

New members of an intentional community are generally selected by the community's existing membership, the leaders or a board rather than by real-estate agents or land owners especially if the land is owned collectively by the community.