EVALUATING THE AGE-FRIENDLINESS OF PUBLIC SPACE IN CHINESE URBAN VILLAGES USING THE EFUSQ FRAMEWORK
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v23i39.1907Keywords:
Age-Friendly, Elderly, Evaluation, Public Space, Urban VillageAbstract
This study presents a systematic evaluation of age-friendly public spaces in Chinese urban villages, focusing on an empirical investigation of Xin'er Village in Chengdu. Using the Elderly-Friendly Urban Space Questionnaire (EFUSQ), data were collected from a purposive random sample of 104 elderly residents. The results indicate that street spaces exhibit relatively higher age-friendliness (accessibility, β = 0.054, p < 0.05), whereas significant deficiencies persist in public activity areas and green spaces, largely due to inadequate planning and design. Key influencing factors such as barrier-free design (β = 0.054, p < 0.05), nighttime lighting (β = 0.04, p < 0.05), and spatial cleanliness (β = 0.059, p < 0.05) were identified, providing empirical evidence for targeted urban regeneration strategies. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive improvements in the planning and upgrading of urban village environments to enhance safety, accessibility, comfort, and diversity, particularly for vulnerable elderly populations. The study's main contribution lies in establishing an evidence-based framework and validating the application of the EFUSQ within the unique context of Chinese urban villages, a typical informal urban setting. It offers both theoretical insights for environmental gerontology and concrete policy recommendations for improving elderly well-being through spatial interventions.
Downloads
References
Al, S. (2019). Bottom-up urbanism in China urban villages and city development. The Palgrave Handbook of Bottom-Up Urbanism, 255–267.
Cottam, C. (2023). City, town and village: The continuum reconsidered. In The City in South Asia (pp. 324–342). Routledge.
Flores, R., Caballer, A., & Alarcón, A. (2019). Evaluation of an age-friendly city and its effect on life satisfaction: A two-stage study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24), Article 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245073
Hao, P., Geertman, S., Hooimeijer, P., & Sliuzas, R. (2013). 12 Spatial evolution of urban villages in Shenzhen. Rural Migrants in Urban China: Enclaves and Transient Urbanism, 202.
Khalid, H. A., Ling, O. H. L., Jalil, N. I. R., Marzukhi, M. A., & Nasrudin, N. (2020). An analysis of the needs of elderly-friendly neighbourhoods in Malaysia: Perspectives of older and younger groups. Planning Malaysia, 18. https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v18i14.823
Kochan, D. (2015). Placing the urban village: A spatial perspective on the development process of urban villages in contemporary China. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39(5), 927–947. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12287
Krings, M. F., van Wijngaarden, J. D., Yuan, S., & Huijsman, R. (2022). China’s elder care policies 1994–2020: A narrative document analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 6141.
Lak, A., Aghamolaei, R., Baradaran, H. R., & Myint, P. K. (2019). Development and validation of elder-friendly urban spaces questionnaire (EFUSQ). BMC Geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-019-1355-0
Li, D., & Ni, Y. (2024). Assessing street environments for older adults in urban villages using POIs and street view images—A case study of Guangzhou, China. Sustainability, 17(1), 31.
Li, J., Dai, Y., Wang, C. C., & Sun, J. (2022). Assessment of environmental demands of age-friendly communities from perspectives of different residential groups: A case of Wuhan, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), Article 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159120
Lu, J. (2023). Evaluating the residential outdoor environment for the elderly in Shuiqinggou, Qingdao, China, using the Seniors’ Outdoor Survey Tool. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1217/1/012009
Lu, J., & Liu, Q. (2019). Four decades of studies on population ageing in China. China Population and Development Studies, 3(1), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42379-019-00027-4
Peng, Q., Ge, S., Li, W., Xiao, L., Fu, J., Yu, Q., & Gao, J. (2023). Identifying densely populated informal settlements and their role in Chinese urban sustainability assessment. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 60(1), 2249748.
Rashid, K., Mohamed, T., Azyze, S. N. A. E., Hazim, Z., Aziz, A. A., & Hashim, I. C. (2021). Determining the features of age-friendly city development. Planning Malaysia, 19.
Samsurijan, M. S., Awang, A., Aiyub, K., Hussain, M. Y., Arifin, K., & Vedevelu, K. (2017). A review of the “Urban Village” concept: An operational definition in Malaysia. Geografi, 5(2), 49–58.
Shen, Y., & Sun, W. (2023). From villages to urban neighborhoods: Urbanization and health. China & World Economy, 31(2), 137–158.
Sun, M. (2024). Design strategies for ageing adaptation design of public spaces under the community elderly care model. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología-Serie de Conferencias, (3), 785.
Tian, Y., Qian, J., & Wang, L. (2021). Village classification in metropolitan suburbs from the perspective of urban-rural integration and improvement strategies: A case study of Wuhan, central China. Land Use Policy, 111, 105748.
Wang, D. (2013). Continuity and change in the urban villages of Shenzhen. International Journal of China Studies, 4(2), 233–256.
Wang, H. (2017). Research on aging suitability of external public space in Chengdu senior citizen community based on AHP hierarchical analysis (Master's thesis). Southwest Jiaotong University.
Wang, Q., Ma, Y., & Chen, J. (2023). Elderly care policy in China: Its evolutionary path and implications on governance. Innovation in Aging, 7, 1026.
Wang, T. (2020). From tradition to transformation: How to provide long-term care to the elderly people in China? In Solidarity Across Generations: Comparative Law Perspectives (pp. 265–278). Springer International Publishing.
Wang, Y. P. (2021). Urban villages, their redevelopment and implications for inequality and integration. Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China: Towards a New Dialogue, 99–120.
WHO. (2007). Global age-friendly cities: A guide. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789241547307
WHO. (2023). National programmes for age-friendly cities and communities: A guide. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240068698
Willits, F. K., Bealer, R. C., & Crider, D. M. (2019). Persistence of rural/urban differences. In Rural Society in the US (pp. 69–76). Routledge.
Xie, X., Dries, L., Heijman, W., & Zhang, A. (2021). Land value creation and benefit distribution in the process of rural-urban land conversion: A case study in Wuhan City, China. Habitat International, 109, 102335.
Xiong, H. (2020). Research on neighbourhood elderly-adaptability renewal based on physical characteristics and psychological needs of the elderly. Residential & Real Estate, 9, 30–59.
Yang, J., Bai, R., Wang, L., Feng, X., Liu, Y., & Zhou, M. (2023). A projection of life expectancy based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019—China, 1990–2030. China CDC Weekly, 5(2), 40.
Zhao, A., Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Xiao, B., Li, L., & Yin, X. (2023). Understanding age-friendliness in urban built environments: A bibliometric analysis and visualization. In ICCREM 2023 (pp. 135–148).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright & Creative Commons Licence
eISSN: 0128-0945 © Year. The Authors. Published for Malaysian Institute of Planners. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
The authors hold the copyright without restrictions and also retain publishing rights without restrictions.
