Residential Design Checklist for Aging in Place: The Case of Mass City

Abstract

This paper attempts at exploring the suitability of Mass city for aging in place. The methodology relied on identifying the required aging-in-place design checklist from a literature review and exploring the availability of its components in Mass city using on-site observations and site analysis. The paper also relied on a questionnaire targeting elderly residents and families with at least one adult over the age of 55 living in Mass city to rate the level of their satisfaction with the design components of the residential complex in terms of age-friendliness. After a careful literature review, it was found that, for residents to age in their homes, the availability of age-friendly interior design components alone is not enough. To create age-friendly housing, the urban design of the residential complex as a whole should also take into account the needs of the elderly residents. In terms of the questionnaire results, the professionals stressed the importance of smart interior design, whereas the elderly residents indicated a satisfaction rate of (63.15) % in terms of urban design, and (73.60) % in terms of interior design. The percentages of available design criteria of age-friendliness in Mass city for the urban and interior designs were (57)% and (55)%, respectively. Therefore, it can be argued that the inclusion of additional components from the checklist can increase the level of age-friendliness of Mass city. Nonetheless, to achieve this goal, a collaboration between the elderly residents and the management of the complex is required in making decisions for future design development of the complex.