NEW-AGE ELDERLY, NEW SOCIAL SPACE? EXPLORING INTANGIBLE BOUNDARIES FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE DESIGN APPROACH.

Abstract

Digitally-designed skate ground has been recently introduced in the States, thereby providing the children of today with another new ‘playground’. The concept behind this new playground is an indication that the planners are aware of the change in the level of technological skills and technological accessibility of a child today. Hence, they see the necessity to match the settings of the physical environment to the same level of technological understanding of the child in order to achieve equilibrium in social interaction among children. The implication of such concepts is especially relevant as the children today are increasingly alert and aware of the surroundings and are mainly extroverts compared to those of yesterday.

Singapore is an ageing population. In the next 20 years, the elderly will contribute to 20% of the population. This fourfold increase will inevitably have several implications for this fairly young nation, therefore the city developments and concerns should focus on our elderly. The reality is that there is an absence of such similar implementations for them. To cope with the increasing number of elderly, the government has been actively creating awareness among the public, emphasizing the problems the nation might face with an ageing population. Though efforts have been made to address the financial problems and needs of the aged, there has not been a significant and effective attempt to improve the intangible aspects of an ageing population. Non-monetary aspects such as the quality of social space have been compromised. Similarly, the public has not shown much interest to socialize at such created spaces.

My interest therefore lies in finding out what are the intangible boundaries of urban social space, and the influences it has on the users, putting emphasis on the new-age elderly whom is the next group of elderly-to-be. In order to create a better-suited social space for the elderly, this paper will first try to identify the intangible boundaries evident in society and secondly, emphasizing new directions that the new-age elderly will perceive. Thirdly, the paper will continue to evaluate these influences and its hierarchy. This paper continues to investigate and study the current phenomenon of the elderly today on three physical sites in Singapore. Lastly, this paper will conclude by evaluating the effectiveness of these intangible boundaries and discuss the general direction in planning for a more inclusive environment in Singapore. This paper seeks to better educate the reader on our elderly and their relationship with social spaces, thus broadening the spectrum in their perceptions of the new-age elderly.