Age-friendly places within the context of people and space

Contrary to popular belief, space is not a static, but a changing and dynamic phenomenon. It is concept that can reproduce itself through the demands, influences and participation of social actors. City, with the micro and macro spaces in it, is a huge stage which allows individuals to realize their social lives, interactions and communications. Equality of opportunity and accessibility in social and spatial life participation, which all individuals living on this stage feel the need of, are among the findings of many studies. With the increasing proportions of old people in the demographic structure, these people became an important point of focus in social policy studies, as well. Active aging, which maintains that social participation and communication, a basic need for people of all ages, old ones included, should be promoted, as well as empowering the individual from psychological, spatial, cultural and socio-economic aspects, is a key concept which serves as a guide in sociology, gerontology, medicine, social serves and social policy. The aim of this study is to draw attention to the design and production of "age-friendly places" in light of the suggestions made by the micro and macro urban designing elements which enable the participation of the old at a maximum level. As part of the qualitative study conducted for this purpose, in-depth interviews with 65 people (15 designers, 21 social disciplines experts, 16 institutionalized old people and 13 social services experts who are employed in these institutions) were carried out. Suggestions were made in light of the themes that were revealed at the end of the study by means of dealing with the literature and concepts reviews, history of space and human relations and analysis of the interviews. The suggestions made were categorized under two main headings, micro and macro spaces, and spatial modeling examples were provided. The macro space suggestions for creating age-friendly place include outdoors, transportation networks, public places, shopping locations, parks and health services along with urban renewal, while the micro ones consist of housing suggestions for old people who live with their families or are institutionalized and reconstruction regulations. Additionally, architectural design graphics were also prepared to clarify the issue of housing for old people in a visual way. It is expected that the study will guide further urban designing studies in relation to the plans for urban renewal and transformation in the realization of 'age-friendly places', while at the same time contributing to social policies.