A MARKET-ORIENTED MODEL FOR THE RETIREMENT VILLAGE INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

With the recent introduction and success of retirement communities, such as Kampung Admiralty and The Hillford in Singapore, ‘Retirement Villages’ has been identified as an alternative retirement housing option to meet the housing needs to the elderly amidst the changing demographics in Singapore. They can not only plug the gaps of Singapore’s lack of living options for the elderly needing care but can also provide for the needs and enhance the quality of life of seniors who are healthy and ambulant. In face of the changing social landscape, the studies on the topic of retirement villages in a local context are limited, especially from the perspective of end-product consumers. Hence, this study undertakes an analysis of consumers’ preferences for the attributes of a retirement village and proposes a market-oriented model for the retirement village industry in Singapore.

Data were collected from 104 survey questionnaires with the present and future elderly population in Singapore between the ages of 40 and 75 to identify their preferences of retirement villages in terms of the structure of units and design considerations, type of facilities and amenities, type of services and support and locality. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used as the main methodology to analyse the findings and to draw inferences from the data. Of the 53 suggested attributes for a retirement village, it was found that the top 5 preferred attributes are canteen or food court, minimart, shuttle bus services, 24-hours emergency services and 24-hours medical centre.

For the retirement village industry to flourish in the competitive retirement housing market in Singapore, a consumer-centered approach for the product design of a retirement village is recommended. Through a consumer-driven approach, a cost-effective strategy of new retirement village developments can be induced. This in turn, can enhance the scalability and affordability of the retirement villages by excluding attributes that were perceived as undesirable by consumers during the design phase of the project. Potential developers can thus ensure that future retirement villages are able to meet the housing and lifestyle requires of tomorrow’s elderly and enhance their quality of life.