According to the sixth national census [1],
as of November 1, 2010, China’s elderly people over 60 years of age reached 178
million, accounting for 13.26% of the total population. Of which over the age
of 65 for the elderly people reached 119 million, accounting for 8.87% of the
total population. China has become the only country with a world elderly
population of over 100 million. And it is predicted that this figure is growing
at an annual rate of 3%. By 2025, the elderly will account for 19.34% of the
total population. To 2040, the elderly will account for 27.8% of the total
population.
Aging in place is an important option for the elderly people in China due to the influence of Chinese tradition. Communities are the environment where the elderly people spend most of their time. The walking space in the communities is important for the safety of the elderly people.
The research studied the safety of walking space of the elderly people living in the communities by using the data collected by observation, interviews and questionnaire surveys. The results identified three types of risks which are caused by pavements, public facilities and surrounding environment based on the qualitative analysis. The results of the quantitative analysis by using SPSS 19.0 found that the risks are highest in surrounding environment than the pavements and public facilities. The public facilities have the lowest risks. The findings of this study provide knowledge for future transformation of the old communities and the planning of new communities.
Article by Qing
Zhu,et al,from Beijing Normal University , China.
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