Since the growing aging population in Hong Kong and most of the elderly living under various public housing estates. Over the years, public housing program in Hong Kong have been expanding and now provides residence to a significant elder people in Hong Kong. For aged public housing estates which accommodate the majority of the elderly with inadequate facilities both in interior unit and in exterior to meet their daily needs while their physical capability deteriorating. Therefore, “Aging in place” become the better housing option for elder people to maintain the greater autonomy and be less dependent on other sources of assistance with adequate supportive services and facilities. Under this circumstance, elder people prefer to reside in the community or place which they have a strong sense of attachment and familiarize with.
However, the redevelopment projects for the aged public housing estates pose a considerable threat to implement the “Aging in place” because this change the living environment for the elderly and relocation to other living places may not be able to accommodate the elderly needs for social connection. Therefore, we need to examine and assess the applicability of “Aging in place” under the redevelopment of public housing estates
Through the literature review, “Aging in place” is defined to promote one’s ability to live in their current residence safely, comfortably and independently without moving. Also, this study is to investigate the concept of “Aging in place” has been used in planning and design stages of a public housing estate. In this regard, Pak Tin estate was used as case study. The findings showed that there were two blocks built as Senior Housing with standardized facilities and design to meet the housing needs for the elderly. The rest of the general public housing blocks did carry out the concept of “Universal Design” in communal area to assist the elderly in daily living. In future planning, demand a holistic approach among the concerned bureaux and departments in planning.
The concept of “Aging in place” has been achieved in Pak Tin estate is assessed through conducting in-depth interview with elder people and stakeholders in Pak Tin estate. The findings showed that Senior Housing blocks are not popular with elder people because the interior design approaches of the unit cannot meet the housing needs for the elderly. While the general public housing in interior design is relatively acceptable to the elder resident upon modification of the unit and introduce the concept of “Universal Design” in the unit.
The District and Community facilities are sufficient to assist the elder people in daily living and sometimes required to access other districts for necessary services which not available in the District. The improvement measures should be drawn to enhance accessible fitness facilities, offer various health services in the estate and district.
For the community support service and social connection, the service provider is the Non-profit making organization which funded by the government. These NGOs offered the supportive services are praised by the elder resident to “Aging in place” and stay in the community. The attention should be drawn to cater for elder peope’s needs for social activities in planning and design of “Open spaces” and thus strengthen the neighborhood support.
After consolidation and analysis of ideas from a case study and opinion from elder residents and stakeholder in Pak Tin estate, we recommended that the Design specification and approach in future blocks in public housing estate, Planning and Design Approach in Surrounding Area of Estate and District, Planning in Open Spaces for Community service and social connection and the HA’s role in implementing “Aging in place” should be reviewed in order to meet the housing needs of the elder residents. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/207621 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Chan, Ho-wai, 陳浩維 |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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