Research On Age-Friendliness Of Public Activity Spaces In Urban Residential Areas

As the proportion of elderly people in China’s population continues to increase,the degree of aging in society is also deepening,and the attention to the elderly’s retirement life in society is continuously increasing.The daily life,leisure activities,and physical and mental health of the elderly have become urgent problems that need to be solved in society.Limited by the decline of travel ability and the psychology of nearby activities,the scope of daily communication activities of the elderly is more limited to the public activity space around their houses and inside the residential areas.Therefore,the public activity space accessible to the elderly in the residential area has become an important interactive space for them to carry out communication activities.Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory,this study took elderly people living in Suojin cun from Suojin Street as the research object,and used the Go-along tracking research method to observe the walking paths of 93 elderly people from their residence to public interactive spaces.The study found that the elderly exhibited spontaneous behavior of placing chairs in interactive spaces.Through this spontaneous behavior,the study identified the daily fixed interactive spaces of the research objects and their trajectories from their residence to the interactive spaces.The study found that there were functional deficiencies in the interactive spaces,the trajectories were mainly on foot,and there were safety hazards.Based on the daily communication activities of the elderly,this study explored the adaptability optimization and update strategies of the walking traffic space and interactive space in public activity spaces in residential areas.Based on the walking paths of the elderly from their residence to public interactive spaces,this study first analyzed the distribution,adaptability,traffic nodes,and frequency of use of the pedestrian traffic network in residential areas.The study found that the elderly had demands for safety,comfort,and accessibility in the pedestrian traffic space.Secondly,the study analyzed the distribution,scene classification,interaction elements,and interaction behaviors of the interactive space,and combined with the behavior feedback environment mechanism,found that the elderly also had corresponding demands for flexibility and participation in the interactive space.This study believes that based on the spontaneous behavior of the elderly towards public activity spaces in residential areas,and with accessibility,interactivity,and friendliness as the basic principles,optimizing and updating the adaptability of public activity spaces in residential areas for the elderly can be achieved.By regulating traffic organization,improving pedestrian friendliness,and ensuring traffic connectivity,the accessibility of roads can be enhanced,the comfort of space can be improved,and the participation of the elderly can be increased,thereby increasing the time and frequency of elderly activities,enhancing the richness of activity content,and constructing safe and convenient transportation space and comfortable interactive space for the elderly.