Investigation of elderly daytime socializing spaces in terms of design criteria: The case of Antalya province

Today, one of the most obvious results of the development of modern life and medical technologies is the prolongation of life expectancy and, as a result, the increase in the elderly population. With the increase in the elderly population, concepts such as the elderly, aging and old age have entered our lives. While 65 years and over is defined as old, it is emphasized that aging is a process and old age is a period. Societies and governments, faced with the aging of the population, have started to develop various social policies and care models for the elderly population over time. In line with the models developed, care is divided into two as institutional and home care in most societies. For the independent elderly who do not need care in the institution or at home, socialization areas have been created and models of institutions and organizations providing day care have been developed in order to encourage their re-participation in a certain society. The number of these institutions providing day care has started to increase in our country with the initiatives of local and private administrations. Elderly homes, nurseries for the elderly, retirement cafes, active elderly centers, elderly locals, elderly support and solidarity centers, elderly clubs and active living centers are some of the units that provide daytime service to the elderly in our country. These units, which are spread under a wide variety of names within the scope of the study, are defined under a single title as elderly daytime socializing spaces. The aim of this study is to examine the elderly daytime socialization spaces in line with the design criteria of the elderly daytime socialization spaces developed within the scope of the study, and to determine the conditions of the buildings to meet the physical, psychological, cultural and social expectations of the elderly users. As the study material, nine elderly daytime socializing spaces in Antalya were determined and evaluated in terms of design criteria for the elderly daytime socializing spaces. With this study, it was aimed to expand the structures that can be described as socializing places for the elderly and to raise awareness about the necessity of rearranging these spaces according to the expectations of the elderly.