• KIEAE Journal
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.117-125
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• 2010

Entering into the 21th century, the whole world is facing the various problems such as environmental disruption, resource exhaustion, and social isolation due to the consequences of population growth and economic development. Especially, as the world population is aging, the solutions for these problems are being suggested with a new paradigm of environmental design for sustainable society providing more affluent and safer life for them. Aging societies are experiencing the difficulty in pursuing persistent vitality of life when aged population is socially excluded, and communities are stagnant due to the decrease of economic activities. In other words, those factors are causing the problems of social sustainability associated with the vital duration of local society and communities. In order to develop successful environment for aging society, it is necessary for us to precisely review how advanced countries are changing their directions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine current trends of the aging friendly environment and find out the measures to promote social sustainability under the crisis of aging society. For this purpose, using qualitative methods, this study analyzed the contents presented at a professional conference , that showed current trends clearly, into three dimensions of social sustainability; the social integration of senior living communities with local society, the vitality of the communities, and the invigoration of individual senior lives. As a result, this study found that the measures that attempt to enhance the social sustainability of aging population can be also used to invigorate the communities.