Page 57 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Age-friendly smart communities in Beijing

Despite significant local initiatives and government the country or region is at the onset of an aging society
investment in these endeavors, there is a lack of consensus (General Editor of the Encyclopedia of China, 2009). In
on critical components of a smart community and key China, the 5 National Population Census in 2000 marked
th
enablers to make it adaptive to the needs of the aging the first time the proportion of the population aged 65 and
population. As a result, most smart communities remain above reached 7% (General Office of the State Council of
ad-hoc, lacking a comprehensive strategy to ensure that the People’s Republic of China, 2000). Subsequent 6 and
th
smart technology can properly address the demands of the 7 national population censuses recorded increases to 8.9%
th
aging population. and 13.5%, respectively, signifying an accelerating trend of
population aging (General Office of the State Council of the
Regarding these issues, this article aims to explore
two intertwined questions: (i) Key characteristics that People’s Republic of China, 2010; 2020). With urbanization
progressing, age structure worsening, longevity increasing,
define an “age-friendly smart community” and (ii) spatial and urban living conditions continuously improving; cities
analytical methods to support planning and evaluation have inevitably become the primary habitat for the aging
in practice. To achieve this goal, we first synthesized the population (Handayani, 2022).
concept of an age-friendly smart community by reviewing
literature in the area of smart community development, Although there is no universally accepted definition
focusing on its strategic aims, technological foundations, of “age-friendly,” many cities have undertaken efforts to
and implementation approaches. Background information improve local communities to accommodate an aging
is provided to establish the necessary social and technical society, especially focusing on health and walkability (Alley
context for understanding the current and future et al., 2007). A common approach is to characterize an age-
development of smart communities in Chinese cities. friendly community across various aspects vital to the well-
Furthermore, this article uses Beijing as a case study to being of the older population (Beier, 1997). For example,
analyze spatial patterns of multiple factors relevant to age- the City of Pasadena, California, US, has implemented a
friendly communities. Based on the results, we further 10-year master plan since 1995, incorporating dynamic
discuss how such analytical output can support age- assessment, demand survey, and leak checking to construct
friendly community planning. an age-friendly community for approximately 15,000 older
residents (City of Pasadena, 1995). In 2005, the Hong
The remainder of this article proceeds as follows: Kong Housing Society described age-friendliness across
Section 2 (literature review) provides a comprehensive seven dimensions, including equivalent use, convenience
overview of smart city development, government and flexibility, cross-population friendliness, clarity
initiatives, and sociotechnical innovations addressing and simplicity, high error tolerance, ease of use, and
an aging society; Section 3 (methods) presents an high feasibility (Hong Kong Housing Society, 2005). In
empirical analysis focusing on local housing, the spatial addition, in 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO)
configuration of Beijing, and community resources established standards for age-friendliness, encompassing
relevant to an aging society; Section 4 (results) presents eight key metrics evaluating outdoor spaces and buildings,
the crucial observations, offering a descriptive summary transportation, housing, social participation, respect and
of the data analysis and summarizing critical insights for social inclusion, civic participation and employment,
future smart community development with considerations communication and information, community support,
for the aging population; Section 5 (discussion) explores in and health services (World Health Organization, 2007).
greater depth the challenges, especially the complex social Large-scale household surveys conducted in Calgary,
and technical limitations, conflicts, and controversies; Canada, and Northwestern Illinois, US, identified safety,
Finally, in Section 6 (conclusion), the article summarizes transportation, respect and value, financial security,
its research contribution, novelty, limitations, future work, medical care, affordable housing, and vitality as primary
and critical recommendations for advancing age-friendly concerns among the older population (Beier, 1997; City of
smart community development. Calgary, 2001; Feldman & Oberlink, 2003).
2. Literature review Previous studies indicate the vital role of the local
population and initiatives in promoting aging-friendly
2.1. Age-friendly communities
communities (O’Hara & Day, 2001). In recent years, there
The United Nations attributes the driving factors of aging to has been a transition from physical planning to more local
three critical factors: Birth rate, death rate, and migration approaches emphasizing human-centric design, social
rate (United Nations, 2019). When the proportion of integration, and participatory planning. Plouffe et al.
the population aged 65 and above exceeds 7% of the (2016) advocate for citizen engagement to ensure that the
total population in a country or region, it indicates that communities are not only “designed for” but also “designed

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1754