VIRTUAL London.
Abstract
Communities formed by state-run and collective factories have seen Chinese cities transition from planned to socialist market economies. Due to the companies’ insolvency, the areas surrounding them are constantly being rebuilt, and many new buildings are being built as the employees retire. Recurrently the older people in there experience fewer and poorer outdoor public spaces as a result of rapid neighborhood development. Age-friendly upgrades are restricted by the community’s delay in building funding. Therefore, walking interviews are used to study older people’s lives and community interactions at Zhengzhou No. 3 Cotton Textile Factory. Its goal is to make this community age-friendly and safeguard community equality. Through the thematical analysis, it is revealed that the community’s present condition falls greatly short of the age-friendly city guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the requirements issued by the Chinese government. However, it was observed that physical environmental barriers do not have a significant impact on the motivation and mobility of older individuals. Neighborhood relationships and community management organization patterns greatly improve the access of older people to outdoor public places and assist them in overcoming mobility obstacles. The process of aging in place can exert significant financial burdens on developing nations and regions. During periods of limited budgets and lengthy construction processes to create age-friendly physical settings in communities, prioritizing neighborhood relationships and positive growth can assist older people to cope with the impact from the physical environment.
Xiaotong Song is a PhD student in design at the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts. Her research interests include older people’s design decision-making processes, design thinking, urban design, and well-being.
Dr Paul Cureton FRSA is Director of Post-Graduate Research, LICA, Director of PhDs, Design and Senior Lecturer in Design at ImaginationLancaster, and a member of the Data Science Institute (DSI). His work transcends subjects in spatial planning, 3D GIS modelling and design futures. It is at the forefront of exploring the critical interface of new and emerging socio-technological relationships such as Design for Digital Twins, Drone Futures and novel process-based methodologies for Future Environments such as Geodesign and XR interactions. His recent publications include the monographs, Strategies for Landscape Representation: Digital and Analogue Techniques (Routledge, 2016) and Drone Futures: UAS for Landscape & Urban Design (Routledge, 2020). He is a co-author with Nick Dunn of Future Cities: A Visual Guide (Bloomsbury, 2020).
Christopher Boyko is a 50th Anniversary Lecturer in Design and ImaginationLancaster. His general research and teaching interests include decision-making processes, design thinking, Internet of Things/digital technology use in cities, urban space, regeneration, research methods, sustainability, urban design and wellbeing.