Page 64 - JCAU-6-3

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

contributing to the refinement of the aforementioned
policies and standards, which then serve as templates
for broad-scale adoption. Concurrently, the demands
emerging from these endeavors drive the innovation and
production of applications tailored to smart and age-
friendly community spaces. Collectively, these stages foster
a methodical advancement in urban intelligence and aging.
The allocation process for pilot quotas naturally follows
the aforementioned top-down mechanism. Specifically,
quotas are allocated among the most developed cities in
each province in a relatively equitable manner. In addition,
these quotas are allocated to districts within these cities and
are ultimately implemented in physical spaces. However,
this process overlooks a crucial aspect: it fails to consider the
actual living and mobility patterns of the elderly population,
requiring a more bottom-up approach. City governments
must prioritize the coordination between people, space,
and technology. Regardless of the chosen compensation
Figure 6. Cluster analysis of aging communities conforming to renovation mechanism or construction model, urban construction
criteria. Source: Drawing by the authors aims to enhance the connection between facilities and
services with the target population. The ultimate goal is
to foster positive aging, empowering elderly individuals to
retain control over their lives, rather than experiencing a
gradual loss of autonomy (Aydın, 2020).

The establishment of age-friendly smart communities
requires a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors.
These factors include the needs of the elderly population
and their caregivers, the geographical distribution of
the community, the physical infrastructure, and various
local conditions such as the type and capacity of services
(Buffel & Phillipson, 2016; Christopher Alexander, 1977;
Figure 7. Box plot on characteristics of three community groups. Source: Garau et al., 2016; Mahdavi, 2022; Salingaros et al., 2008;
Drawing by the authors
Stephen, 2008). While the pilot distribution of age-
friendly communities in China can effectively drive the
of services in areas such as Group 0, where lower rental development and implementation of urban policies
yields, attributable to the prevailing high real estate market (Buffel & Phillipson, 2016; 2018), it remains imperative
prices, impede the expansion of service infrastructure, to understand the needs of elderly individuals and the
resulting in a shortfall in service quantity. living conditions within their communities to ensure
5. Discussion sustainability and efficiency (Galčanová & Sýkorová, 2015;
Stephen, 2008). Introducing chrono-urbanism allows for
Over the past decade, cities in China and worldwide the refinement of community development standards by
have explored diverse technologies and development incorporating a temporal dimension, thereby aiding city
models for smart communities. An analysis of the governments and developers in making nuanced and
progression of national policies, technical standards, sustainable decisions. The evolution of age-friendly smart
project implementations, and spatial applications in communities should align with principles of sustainable
age-friendly smart community development indicates development, tailored to the distinctive requirements of
a predominantly top-down transmission mechanism each urban context (Garau et al., 2016). Chrono-urbanism
propelling this evolution. This mechanism initiates with also plays a key role in humanizing and intelligently
the formulation of high-level policies, followed by the analyzing community needs, thereby broadening access to
issuance of construction standards by pertinent authorities services within feasible timeframes. This approach echoes
and pilot cities. Subsequently, districts and neighborhoods Aristotle’s notion that men come together in cities to live;
undertake the implementation of these pilot initiatives, they remain together to live the good life. (Aristotle, 1981;

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1754