New Spatial Organizations as a Social Integration Model: Contemporary Elderly Living Centers
Damla AltuncuThe mortality rates at early ages decreased as diagnosis-treatment methods progressed and living conditions improved due to technological advancements. However, the population of elderly people has notably increased. The passive life of the increasing elderly population in contemporary societies is acknowledged as a social problem. Hence, coexistence models that support active aging and alternative nursing homes are indicated to solve this problem. This study included the modern elderly living centers developed for elderly people to maintain their active lives. It aimed to evaluate contemporary elderly living centers, which are proposed as a social integration model for sociopolitical development, at the socioarchitecture interface. It focuses on the situation analysis of a new practice in contemporary elderly living centers and thus preferred the descriptive method, which is one of the quantitative research types. This study followed the design of the scanning model and collected research data based on active aging index, which is a composite index for comparing the progress toward aging in European Union countries since 2012. The study sample included “contemporary elderly living centers,” defined as “independent living spaces” in above-average countries, such
as Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The general evaluation indicated that modern-age living centers in these countries can be accepted as a new social integration model for social integration as well as independent living spaces for the elderly.
Toplumsal Bütünleşme Modeli Olarak Yeni Mekânsal Örgütlenmeler: Çağdaş Yaşlı Yaşam Merkezleri
Damla AltuncuGelişen teknolojiye bağlı olarak teşhis-tedavi yöntemlerinin ilerlemesi ve yaşam şartlarının iyileşmesi erken yaşlarda ölüm oranlarını azaltmıştır. Bununla birlikte ileri yaştaki bireylerin nüfusunda artış olmuştur. Çağdaş toplumlarda artan yaşlı nüfusunun pasif yaşantısı toplumsal bir sorun olarak kabul edilmektedir. Bu soruna çözüm olarak aktif yaşlanmayı destekleyen ve huzurevlerinin alternatifi olan birlikte yaşantı modelleri önerilmektedir. Bu araştırmanın konusu, yaşlıların aktif yaşantılarını sürdürmeleri amacıyla geliştirilen çağdaş yaşlı yaşam merkezleridir. Araştırmanın amacı, sosyopolitik kalkınma için bir toplumsal bütünleşme modeli olarak önerilen çağdaş yaşlı yaşam merkezlerinin sosyoloji-mimarlık ara kesitinde bir değerlendirmesini yapmaktır. Araştırmada, çağdaş yaşlı yaşam merkezleri özelinde yeni bir uygulamanın durum analizine odaklanıldığı için nicel araştırma türlerinden betimleme yöntemi tercih edilmiştir. Çalışma tarama modeline uygun olarak desenlenmiştir. Araştırma verileri 2012 yılından itibaren Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinde yaşlanmaya yönelik ilerlemeyi karşılaştırmayı amaçlayan bileşik endeks olan Aktif Yaşlanma Endeksi temel alınarak toplanmıştır. Danimarka, İsveç, Hollanda, Finlandiya ve Birleşik Krallık gibi ortalamanın üzerindeki ülkelerdeki “bağımsız yaşam alanları” olarak tanımlanan “Çağdaş Yaşlı Yaşam Merkezleri” araştırmanın örneklemini oluşturmuştur. Genel değerlendirmede bu ülkelerdeki modern çağ yaşam merkezlerinin yaşlılar için bağımsız yaşam alanları olmasının yanı sıra toplumsal bütünleşme için yeni bir toplumsal bütünleşme modeli olarak kabul edilebileceği anlaşılmıştır.
The elderly population is increasing in proportion to the young population. This is because of diagnostic–treatment method advancement with developing technology and increasing standards of living. The prolongation of life expectancy seemed positive from an individual point of view, but it also brings along various problems from a social point of view. One of these problems is the inability of aging individuals to adapt socially and economically to the general order of society. Therefore, the inactive lifestyle of the increasing elderly population in contemporary societies is recognized as a social issue that must be addressed. This problem can be resolved by developing social practices that direct elderly individuals to a more active lifestyle. One of these is cohabitation models, which support active aging and are an alternative to nursing homes.
Cohabitation models do not advocate for the elderly to passively withdraw themselves from society and live within specified parameters. Hence, the architectural structures developed for cohabitation models for the elderly are viewed as socioeconomic harmonization models that enable active aging rather than as a type of confinement space. These architectural structures, which are more than a nursing home building, are designed to ensure socialization by directing the users’ behavior. The main argument of this study is that contemporary senior living centers have been developed as a type of social integration model beyond the physical architectural space.
This study investigated the different architectural and sociological dimensions of contemporary senior living centers developed for the elderly to maintain their active lifestyle. This study aimed to evaluate contemporary senior living centers, which are proposed as a model of social integration for sociopolitical development, at the intersection of sociology and architecture. The research question in this study is “Can modern age living centers, developed to support the housing and care needs of the elderly population, be accepted as a model of social integration?” The research subquestions are “What are the various physical characteristics of contemporary living centers in terms of architecture?” and “What are the benefits, risks, and potentials of the elderly living together in sociological terms?”
This study is thought to bring a different perspective to the literature since previous related studies have not addressed the contemporary elderly living centers, proposed as a model of social integration in the field of aging, at the intersection of sociology and architecture. This study mainly contributes to the literature in the comparison of coliving models that support active aging as a solution to aging problems and are seen as alternatives to nursing homes by investigating their spatial organizations at the sociology–architecture interface. Therefore, understanding new spatial organizations with different dimensions is thought to contribute to the development of new solutions for the fields of architecture and sociology.
This study examined, within its scope, contemporary senior living centers in the countries in the yellow cluster with the highest average score among the countries included in the 2018 report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The countries in the yellow cluster have the highest scores in the category of “independent, healthy, and safe living,” and they were assumed to have good examples and thus constituted the study sample.
This study preferred the descriptive method, one of the quantitative research types, because it focuses on the case analysis of a new practice in contemporary senior living centers. This study followed the survey model design and collected research data based on the active aging index (AAI), a composite index that aims to compare the progress toward aging in European Union countries since 2012. The United Nations HumanDevelopment Index 2022, which determines the development levels of countries, report that among the countries in the yellow cluster, Denmark ranked sixth, Sweden ranked seventh, the Netherlands ranked tenth, Finland ranked eleventh, and the United Kingdom (UK) ranked eighteenth. The study population included “contemporary elderly living centers,” defined as “independent living spaces,” in above-average countries such as Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, and the UK.
This study collected data using digital resources, investigated state approaches to the housing and care of the elderly in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK, and compiled good examples of contemporary senior living centers established by private or public initiatives.
The study sample consisted of Bomi-Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark; Myllymatka in Helsinki, Finland; Scheldehof in Flushing, Netherlands; SällBo in Helsingborg, Sweden; Battersea Place in London, UK. The sample included these units because of their socioeconomical and architectural good practices in their respective countries.
The literature revealed different classifications in determining the structural characteristics in evaluating the physical environment of the architectural space, but this study used the spatial quality scale proposed by Van der Voordt and Van der Wegen.
This study only selected the functional quality factors as a scale of the functional, aesthetic, technical, and economic quality characteristics. This study evaluated contemporary senior living centers according to this scale by creating evaluation tables,including factors such as location, relations with the social environment, access to the external environment, accessibility, efficiency, flexibility, security, spatial orientation, sovereignty space, privacy, social contact, and physical environmental conditions (lighting, heating, ventilation, etc.). The tables were compared at the end of the study.
The general evaluation considered the contemporary elderly living centers in the included countries as a new social integration model for social integration/adaptation that provides independent living spaces for the elderly. Contemporary living centers, developed to address sociological problems, offer a new model of social organization beyond being an alternative space. Accordingly, architectural spatial organizations have been differentiated.
This study, within its scope, revealed that the social content of the design concept developed in terms of architecture is more important, and thus, architectural features are kept at optimum. Understandably, pioneering architectural features are not expected from the design of contemporary living centers in the architectural dimension. The most important architectural element is “accessibility” in designs that emphasized the adequacy levels of functional features. Additionally, reuse and/or refunctioning is another important issue in the design of contemporary living centers. The design of the external environment is important along with the architectural design of contemporary living centers based on the assumption that the connection with the external environment enables socialization. The functions of the facilities are diversified to ensure social contact in contemporary living centers that promise high privacy and security.
The cohabitation of the elderly can be realized in different models from a sociological point of view. Concurrently, this study concluded that the examined examples are not alternatives to nursing homes or hospitals. Hence, the terms and definitions of elderly spaces must be reconsidered. In conclusion, the economic dimensions of a collective life should also be rethought, since structures, such as contemporary senior living centers, are not economically accessible to everyone. The result of this study indicates that the issue of contemporary senior living centers should be discussed with different dimensions, such as sociology, architecture, and economics, with the aging population, and the potentials that are specific to local cultural characteristics should be developed.
