Age Friendly Cities on Active and Healthy Aging; One on Bolu-Karacasu Studio Experience

Abstract

The proportion of the elderly population to the general population is increasing day by day in our country and in the world. This situation mainly affects developing countries, but there are impacts on the developed countries as well. The global aging of the world's population increases the need for services for the elderly, thus making it necessary to address the situation in terms of urban living conditions and architectural aspects. The loss of the elderly's ability to adapt to the built environment, physical and biological constraints, and spatial inadequacies are forcing older people to change the boundaries of their habitat. Within this context, the World Health Organization (WHO) is leading the way in inspiring cities to be “age-friendly” through the Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide. It develops strategies for active aging and age-friendly cities that make the best use of health, participation, and safety opportunities to improve life quality in old age. The main purpose of this study is to propose an application based on the theoretical infrastructure about the concept and requirements of the age-friendly city, which aims to create a livable and accessible environment in which the elderly can continue their lives actively and feel integrated with the society. In the scope of the study, an age-friendly city model for active and healthy aging was developed, and its results were analyzed through the Age-friendly Bolu Karacasu sample, which was created with a project in the Urban Planning Project Studio of Abant Izzet Baysal University of Bolu in 2019-2020.

Keywords: Age Friendly Cities, active aging, quality of life, accessibility, Bolu Karacasu.

DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/6-10-05