Neighborhood Design and Regional Accessibility of Age-Restricted Communities from Resiliency and Spatial Perspectives

Abstract

Population aging, also known as the “silver tsunami,” has introduced changes in infrastructure needs and neighborhood development in cities. In this regard, appropriate housing and accessibility to facilities, amenities, and social services can influence seniors’ independence and quality of life. Age-restricted communities, representing a new paradigm in urban development, have become a popular option for older adults due to the many benefits they offer. This study aims to measure the regional accessibility of age-restricted communities to various facilities, including hospitals, recreation facilities, shopping centers, and parks, from resiliency and spatial perspectives. Thus, a set of methods is proposed based on a geographic information system (GIS) at the neighborhood level which involves distribution exploration of age-restricted communities, spatial analysis of facility locations by type, and gravity accessibility measures to each type of facility in a given neighborhood. These methods are then applied to age-restricted communities for independent living in Edmonton, Canada. The results of the case study indicate that different types of facilities are not equally distributed among neighborhoods, a phenomenon which is of particular concern with regard to age-restricted communities. Furthermore, since variations exist in the regional accessibility measures, seniors in these communities experience inequitable access to various facilities. Thus, suggestions and policy implementations are proposed pertaining to neighborhood design and location selection of age-restricted communities in order to improve regional accessibility.

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