Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-193). Also available via the Internet.

Population aging becomes a serious social problem when the society develops into a certain stage, and it has a close relationship with the national economy and people’s livelihood, as well as the future of a country. Also, the improvement of medical level and social welfare help people prolong their life expectancy. As a developing country, which includes nearly 1/4 population of the world, China also faces the severe aging problem. After the establishment of People’s Republic of China, the population grows with a very high rapid. Later, the Chinese government implemented the One Child Policy at the beginning of 1980, this policy gradually modified the family structure in the micro dimension and the population structure in the macro dimension. There are more and more 4-2-1 families, which means there are 4 grandparents, 2 parents and only one child in one family, and this family structure causes some troubles and challenges to the traditional model, which is taking care of the old at home. The government and families all have difficulties to take care of the elderly people. As a result, the elderly housing emerges at the right moment. The world pays more attention to taking care of the elderly people, and many relative concepts have been introduced around the world. Such as the healthy ageing and active ageing pronounced by the WHO, and some other concepts like the ageing-in-place and community care, etc. All of these concepts give us a theoretical foundation when research on the development of elderly housing in China. Beijing Suncity Living Community is one of the best elderly communities in China, this dissertation tries to do a case study about the elderly housing in Suncity. After the data analysis, the author found that the Suncity does well in the design of the community, which suits the physical characteristics of the elderly people. Also, the services and facilities for the elderly people are relative complete, which can help the elderly people to spend their spare time in a more interesting way. However, the management in the Suncity is not good, and this may give the elderly people a sense of unsafety. Also, it may bring bad impact to their psychological health. Then, the recommendation about both the Suncity and the development of elderly housing in China will also be given. For the Suncity, it must change the poor management, and one method is to employ some professional people to enhance the management level. For the later development of elderly housing in China, recommendations are given from design of the elderly community and management of the elderly community. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This study has presented in detail statistics and research related to the elderly and aging population and the many housing options that are currently available to this age demographic. The research has shown that Assisted Living Facilities are rapidly becoming the preferred method of Elder Care in the US, so much so that they have begun to offer nursing care which is typically offered only by nursing homes. Further exploration demonstrated that there is a lack of consistency in these facilities, and the evidence points to the need for a new model of Assisted Living that will focus more on the individual while still providing necessary care. This discovery has lead to the concept of creating an Assisted Living Development as the new model to be considered by future designers and Assisted Living planners. The creation of this model has helped to outline a new methodology for the planning and organization of Assisted Living. / Department of Architecture

Studies at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., during the 1970's, defined a management style already existing for high-performance, assisted housing. Project performance in those studies was based in part on: (a) tenant satisfaction with management, (b) tenant turnover rates, (c) rent delinquency rates, (d) vandalism rates, and (e) operating cost per unit. For this dissertation an attempt was made to evaluate the use of high-performance management guidelines with a newly-opened, assisted-housing project for elderly and handicapped residents. The guidelines used for this study were (a) authority for the project was based on-site, (b) maintenance responsibilities were based on-site, (c) management was a source of service-referral. The Building, Building A, was compared to three existing similar projects where management authority differed. Cost comparisons were made from maintenance budgets from the four buildings. Comparisons of tenant satisfaction with management, volunteerism rates, and perceptions of locus of control were made by means of a questionnaire mailed to all tenants in the four buildings. A locus of control scale was included with the management study because of the special needs of aging residents who face uncontrollable losses in the later years. It was thought that the management style of the experimental building, where authority for the project was based on-site, might influence tenant perception of locus of control. Responses to the questionnaire did not suport the hypothesis that residents in Building A would have significantly higher perceptions of (a) internal control, (b) satisfaction with management, (c) volunteerism rates. There was support for the hypothesis that maintenance operating costs for building A would be significantly lower when comparisons were made among the four buildings. The study concludes that (a) management research would benefit by developing methods to better define and measure management behaviors, (b) data on the reasons for tenant turnover are important sources of information not presently being utilized in senior-projects experiencing vacancy problems, (c) the results of the operating maintenance costs comparisons in this study reinforce the Urban Institute's management guidelines as a point for serious consideration by developers of assisted-housing for elderly and handicapped tenants.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning