A Space for the Elderly: Inclusion Through Design
Awareness of design when planning public urban spaces assumes particular importance through its mission to meet the diverse needs of the different segments within the community. The elderly is considered one of the pivotal segments, with their influence on strengthening social cohesion, fortifying v...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/15/2596 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Awareness of design when planning public urban spaces assumes particular importance through its mission to meet the diverse needs of the different segments within the community. The elderly is considered one of the pivotal segments, with their influence on strengthening social cohesion, fortifying values, and upholding traditions. On the other hand, such a segment demands special physical, behavioral, and mental requirements that would entail specific consideration in the design process of public common spaces. The study aimed to identify and evaluate the most relevant and important indicators pertaining to the most effective design of an age-friendly public space, with community parks taken as a particular case. The study relies on a mixed approach, combining desk research, expert views, the Delphi technique, and the Analytical Hierarchy Process to achieve that purpose. It resulted in a group of sourced, filtered, and evaluated indicators classified into Physical, Experiential, and Social/Emotional categories, which were evaluated by a mixed representative group of academics, practitioners, governmental officials, and end users, being the elderly or their caretakers. Focus was placed on the central park in the Dahiyat Al-Hussein suburb in Amman, Jordan, which was utilized as a contextual case through which a refined design framework was extracted. This framework serves as a potential base that can be expanded and adapted to create a more generalizable model. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2075-5309 |