Geriatri-City: Aging Playfully in Seoul

Abstract

The world is aging. By 2050, more than 20% of the world’s population will be over 60 years. With such population aging, the health of the elderly population becomes a critical factor determining their quality of life and contribution to society. Health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” by the World Health Organization. While a significant number of studies provide ways to improve the health of the elderly population, many of them focus on the physical activities and health of the individuals. While improved physical activities and health are critical for their health, mental health and social well-being of the elderly population are also critical to support healthy aging. Furthermore, a significant proportion of aged 65 and older Americans are considered socially isolated and report feeling lonely, emphasizing the importance of mental and social health along with the physical health of the elderly population. Leisure activities, such as hobbies, sports, socializing, and volunteering, are found to have physical, mental, and social health benefits by a growing body of research. According to a recent framework, leisure activities improve the health of individuals through psychological, biological, social, and behavioral processes at multiple levels (Fancourt et al., 2021). For instance, leisure activities support cognitive learning, biologically activate individuals’ physical conditions, promote individuals to be socially active, and to be engaged in healthy behaviors. However, unfortunately, a significant proportion of the elderly population does not have awareness and access to healthy leisure activities in our communities. This study addresses the following questions: are communities providing various types and spaces to perform healthy leisure activities to the elderly population? How can we design healthier communities where the elderly population can be physically, mentally, and socially active through healthy leisure activities? To answer such questions, this study investigates the city of Seoul in South Korea where the aging population is highly populated, as a case study of a fast-aging metropolitan area. This study analyzes and evaluates the distribution and accessibility of leisure facilities in urban settings of Seoul using GIS and Space Syntax methods. Also, to understand the patterns of leisure activities of the elderly population, National Leisure Activity Survey is analyzed. Furthermore, the relationships between spatial attributes of the leisure facilities and leisure activity patterns will be provided. The results of this study will provide preliminary design strategies that could promote healthy leisure activities of the elderly population through the design of the communities in the context of a high-density metropolis area. As the World Health Organization states, physical and social environments of communities can provide more opportunities for the elderly population to be active physically, mentally, and socially. The results of this study are expected to illustrate ways to provide such opportunities through the design of the communities.