Study On Residential Outdoor Environment Of The Elderly In China

With the rapid development of an aging population, growing concern and attention is from all sectors on the quality of life of older people. Beautiful environment can effectively promote the elderly for outdoor activities and social interactions, prompting the elderly to maintain their vitality, thereby improving the quality of life satisfaction and happiness of the elderly. Elderly residential, as the future direction of older residential buildings, has a lot of potential.This study selected five of elderly residential as typical object from Yangtze River Delta region. Through field research, it summed up the characteristics of excellent outdoor environment of elderly residential includes: great location, beautiful environment; barrier-free facilities; senior-oriented space; corridor without rain or shine.Through questionnaires, the main conclusions are as follows:The elderly in elderly residential are relatively more educated, and usually are intellectuals, so have more retirement income. Ages are more concentrated in 65-85, wellness, independence and Device-helping Aged People, and the proportion of women is greater than men.The elderly in elderly residential have high requirements for quality outdoor environment, where there is superior location, beautiful environment, fresh air, and far from the noise.The order of favorite places of the elderly in turn is walking paths>physical activity area>seating area>resting area>water features.The health of the elderly, the quality of outdoor environmental and the integrity of the barrier-free environment, are the main factors that affect older persons conducting activities in the outdoor environment.The elderly in elderly residential emphasis on spiritual and cultural activities. So there needs to create and set the space and activities to promote the communication among the elderly, when designing the outdoor environment space.According to the field survey and questionnaire, the study divided the design principles of outdoor environment into safety, accessibility, the sense of comfort, the sense of recognition, communicative; through the detailed analysis of planning and design of outdoor environment, spatial design, landscape elements, working for the construction of a "stamp for all ages" and a harmonious social environment.