Social design in China : community-based comprehensive old-age service facilities design

Abstract

Local government in China encourages the promotion of community-based ageing services in the urban area as a way to support the majority of older adults' needs of ageing-in-place. In response, recently, community-based comprehensive old-age service facilities (COSFs) have been proposed by scholars and elderly service institutions to cope with the population ageing in the urban areas and create age-friendly cities in China. Despite this context, no practical, satisfactory, and systematic method has been proposed to tackle the complex and multiple architectural and social problems that arise along with COSF design and ageing in place. Synthesising social design, architectural design, COSF design, ageing in place literature and conducting qualitative and quantitative studies, this research explores what the theoretical social-architectural framework and nested ecological model of ageing and COSF design in China are, how to apply the framework and model on COSF design research and practice and how to design COSFs to attain multi-wins between space and people, using Harbin as a study case. This study considers the Social-Architectural Design Framework of Ageing in Place (SADFA), which can lead to an innovative and reformed understanding of the design approaches, stakeholders, aims, contents, and design steps of COSF design based on the social design theory. This study proposes the Nested Ecological Model of Ageing in Place (NEMA), which states the core components of COSF design in different ecological systems and defines the applicable linking mechanism of space-centred and people-centred studies. Using Harbin as a case, space-centred and people-centred studies were conducted. In the space-centred study, spatial analysis, including service area and suitability analyses, in the GIS and correlation analysis was performed to diagnose the current service gaps in ageing in place and to choose the potential locations for the future expansion of COSFs. In the people-centred study, questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to explore the stakeholders' views and suggestions on COSF design. The findings in the space-centred study indicate that service distribution is positively correlated with population density. The walkability of health care and socialisation facilities in Harbin were inadequacies. As for the future distribution of community-based ageing service facilities, downtown and the main factory areas need new COSF development the most. The day-care centres were scarce in Harbin city, and the results indicate that in the study area there have more spaces suitable for day­care and mixed pattern COSF than the residential pattern for newly built, community centre converted and community clinic converted patterns. The study findings reveal the main driving factors that ageing service distribution are older population density, service economy, approval procedures and profits. The findings in the people-centred study indicate that shareable design among older and younger generations is feasible, and older adults have a higher acceptance level of inclusive design and prefer to share spaces to improve intergenerational interactions than younger adults. Residents of all ages are more likely to share functional areas related to health services, living services and physical exercise. Moreover, the study reveals some design suggestions from different stakeholders, including older and younger residents, servers: sharable spaces (such as meal service space, clinic, and library) among multi-generations can be designed in COSF to promote intergenerational interactions; older adults have a higher willingness to share spaces than younger adults; the service model of COSFs should be comprehensive; the location of COSFs in the community is better integrated into public buildings; intelligent monitoring devices should be used; design should be considered in the regional context, with emphasis on multi-function space and openness to the public. This study also reveals and compared the themes that could be the evaluation criteria for facility satisfaction among different stakeholders. These themes include safety, comfort and cleanliness, the convenience of interpersonal communication, quality of healthcare services, accessibility, protection dignity, the potential of intergenerational sharing, service efficiency, regionalism and profitability. This study also discussed challenges and opportunities for implementing NEMA and COSF in China. This study reveals that NEMA is theoretically grounded and practically applicable. The NEMA is a theoretical model for ageing-in-place, as well as practical design toolkits and methods with both space-centred and people-centred linking mechanism, which could be applied to guide COSF locating, programming and design in China. As for the availability of innovative design strategies for COSF, four aspects need to consider seriously, including locating within older people's 15­minute walkability, multi-generational usage of the environment, combining residential care with medical care, and integrated design to make COSF as a community living room. This study aims to contribute to the architecture planning and design of comprehensive urban community ageing service facilities from the perspective of public participation, resource integration, and multi-wins of different stakeholders. This study expectes to promote the awareness of urban designers, architects, and policymakers in China or similar contexts around the globe where identical ageing issues exist, regarding the employment the Social-architectural Design Framework, the Nested Ecological Model, and interdisciplinary approaches in both research and practice, to achieve both sustainability and inclusivity in the age-friendly environment and space design.