Development of Proposal Outline:
Key Words: Retirement - Transition - Community - Health & Wellbeing - Identity
Creating a solution to the spatial displacement of the retired population of New Zealand to inform their place amongst society and/in communities.
1. The aim of my project is to propose a new mainstream model of living in later life, to inform the place older people need and deserve to have as part of society/communities in New Zealand.
The ageing population of New Zealand is increasing, and as people are living longer and healthier, many who retire are still physically/mentally well and capable, however, face difficulties in finding purpose and keeping connected in their neighbourhoods/community. Researching into the transition into retirement, reoccurring patterns I uncovered included the placement of older people to be stereotypically associated together in clusters within institutional living environments (e.g. retirement villages, nursing homes). These are commonly located on the margins of society and regarded as their own community rather than part of our societal community.
This spatial issue imposes an easy disregard towards the older population as part of our society, in which this disengagement with the community can contribute a detrimental affect on their health, wellbeing and identity. This inspires me to redefine community by designing a mixed-life phased development/sub-division that caters to the interests and needs of older people, whilst also facilitating local community engagement across all age groups (life-phases).
2. Research aims and design questions include:
How do older people experience the transition into retirement?
How can I use spatial design to facilitate people to connect through local community engagement in a new subdivision?
How do people live at different times of their lives and how do I design for that?
How can I spatially design a mixed-life phase living environment that can allow for later life interests to be part of a bigger communal space where people live?
These questions aim to explore how older people can be appropriately placed within the community to facilitate to their needs/wants as well as the rest of the community and how this can be mapped out.
3. Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy and Practice - Gavin J. Andrews & David R. Phillips
This reading addresses that spatial distribution of older people and their association/emphasis on settings and places (the meaning of specific places and settings of older individuals). It is a review of research and the policy area of ageing and place.
It outlines the many geographies of ageing and also ideals of ageing environments which hold conceptualisations of place of older people and addresses the issue of how ageing and place should be conducted in places other than homes and institutions. It further addresses how the importance of community and neighbourhood is to the health of and wellbeing of one in transition to retirement and later stages of ageing.
This is a key reading for me to address the spatial displacement and stereotypical views of retirement and place which disregard older people as part of community. It will help inform further solutions to an urban model plan.
Liminal Space: An Investigation of material and immaterial boundaries and their space inbetween - Andrea Eimke
This project addresses the concept of transition through the exploration of the notion of liminality & hybridity regarding how the space between two cultures/environments is experienced. It explores how the navigation of change is a process of transit that also transforms the transient, which comments on how being positioned between contrasted environments (e.g. work/home) provides opportunity to embrace both memories of the old and adopt experiences of the new which can influence an individuals changing identity.
This reading is key for me to unpack how one may experience the transition into retirement, and how this informs ones changing identity - attention to the changing environments of home as one ages further.
4. An existing practice that already explores these concerns is the new township development located off Auckland called Hobsonville Point. Hobsonville Points desire is to build a diverse community of “all ages and stages” to engender a stronger sense of belonging and have designed the town layout to facilitate the interaction between these. Although they have a retirement village located fairly central within the community, the aged care facilities such as nursing homes and other retirement villages are located on the edge of the township with a motorway separating them - making it their place of age and their own community away from the towns community.
5. To take this further, I would like to explore ways in which the older peoples needs and wants in their stage of living can be part of a normal community environment, changing the spatial issue of their location away from town activities and facilities in (which they have to usually venture out of their own community) and bringing the facilities and people of all stages into their surrounding environment. Another way to take this further, is to potentially explore the cultural diversity of New Zealands elderly (as we are a multi-cultural nation) and explore the different needs and protocol these require that are missing in later life living environments today.
6. Experimentation: I have first explored ways in which one can feel a sense of belonging and connection to community through the power of getting involved and interacting with new people. I then explored ways in which the home can trigger memories and how personal identity is reflected through the practice of daily rituals, and objects like photographs or of personal value. I also experimented with symbolic testings that represented the privacy of the home and the exposure of community living, to explore the tensions these can have and how they can inform a new representation of living and identity when fused together.
Through this I uncovered how the notion of home continuously changes in transitions of later life stages due to declining health that impacts ones ability to connect with their identity and also turns the home from a private to public space when care is introduced. Although it is personally important to have their own home and private space when transitioning into retirement (working everyday to being at home everyday), the place of home becomes a space of reflection of one’s past self identity, and their isn’t much to be gained for a retired person to be living alone this way. It is important to help older people making the transition into retirement by facilitating their sense of place through affording new practices, relationships and connection to the community that inform ones identity, place and purpose. Changing ageing and place to being conducted in places other than homes and institutions.
My next stage is to experiment by exploring the relationships between activities and communities to find out who is likely to be involved in particular activities (of different age groups) and how spaces of activities can connect. As later life stages of ageing can leave many immobile, it is necessary to combine housing developments within a communal model/close to activities. I also want to explore ways that afford people to connect in a natural way and not just through organised activities.