Evaluation and Needs of the Elderly for Spatial Characteristics of Senior Centers in Apartment Complex

아파트 경로당의 공간특성에 대한 노인 평가 및 요구

It is not surprising that senior centers are widely used nationwide as Korea becomes an aging society. This study attempts to figure out senior citizens' needs and evaluations of senior centers in terms of characteristics of their usage and spatial composition. A face to face interview using a questionnaire was conducted on 255 senior citizens who has been using senior centers located in Jangyu new city apartment housing complex. The questionnaire is composed of questions asking characteristics of their usage, evaluations of spatial composition, and respondents' demographic data. Findings are: First, it is found that many respondents visit senior centers everyday and spend 4 to 6 hours a day. Their main activities are meeting friends, taking hobbies, and dining. That is, senior centers play a pivotal role in daily lives of senior citizens. Such characteristics should be taken into account in space design when planning to build a future senior center; Second, it is found that senior centers play a role of auxiliary space for building their sense of belonging and familarity. It is found that furnitures in senior centers are worn out and safety measures are not sufficiently considered; Third, it is found that they highly evaluate flexible spacial composition that could be partitioned or extended depending on occasions even though they prefer independent space; Fourth, it is found that kitchen facilities are not large enough considering the fact that more that half of the respondents have their lunches in senior centers. Even though they do not cook for themselves kitchen space should be large enough for preparing meals simultaneously for a large number people.