In response to the entry into an super-aged society, the study aims to identify the socio-spatial characteristics of the Elderly Concentrated Area in Seoul and suggest ways to improve the neighbourhood environment so that the elderly can “continue to live where they used to live(Aging in Place)”.
To the end, the distribution and socio-spatial characteristics of the Elderly Concentrated Area in Seoul were identified, and the case areas were selected to diagnose the age-friendliness of the neighbourhood environment. In addition, the survey on the elderly(320 cases) examined the elderly’s use of neighbourhood facilities, and reviewed the abroad cases in New York and Tokyo to suggest a direction for improving the neighbourhood environment for the age-friendly community. The main findings from this study are as follows.
First, Seoul's the Elderly Concentrated Area(46 dongs) are mainly distributed in the northeast and northwest regions, which can be divided into the ‘hill type’ and the ‘flatland type’. The Elderly Concentrated Area shows the characteristics of low-rise residential areas where the low-educated elderly and the elderly living alone live.
Second, the supply of senior citizen centers and parks per 1,000 elderly people in the Elderly Concentrated Area is lower than the average in Seoul. In addition, the case areas showed that the hill type had steep stairs and ramps or poor maintenance, and the flat type had many complementary roads and lack of parks, which required improvement.
Third, according to the survey results(320 cases), 49% of the elderly have lived in the area for more than 20 years, with the majority participating in community gatherings or activities. Most of the elderly(91%) responded that they wanted to continue living in the neighbourhood where they live.
Fourth, the following policy directions are needed to create a age-friendly neighbourhood environment for the elderly in Seoul. 1) implementing an Age-friendly City policy combined with a community-integrated care system, 2) establishment of a system to diagnose the community's age-friendly level, 3) development of an age-friendly community project model, 4) linkage with individual projects and the Community Plan.