中欧社会论坛 - China Europa ForumHousing and retirement: how elevators free ‘abandoned city tower’ dwellers from isolation
Renovating housing in an aging society
Date: 9 juillet 2007
Extract from ” Urban Development Issues in China’s Cities: Part Three“
Published by Xinmin Zhoukan (Xinmin Weekly), No. 24
Abstract: The demand for retirement housing is increasing considerably in Shanghai, the first city to undergo the transitions of population aging. 95.8% of elderly people prefer to spend their retirement years in private housing, meaning that the vast majority of elderly residents in China’s major cities choose to live at home. As early as 2005, a study of the living conditions and needs of Shanghai’s elderly population revealed that 69.9% of those living in high-rise accommodation within the city limits found going up and down the stairs was their most difficult task out of a list of ten daily activities. There are over 10,000 of these old, state-owned apartment towers in Shanghai. These dilapidated and non-functional buildings that resemble a stack of matchboxes, were erected between the 1970s and 1990s to solve the city’s persistent housing shortage. For the elderly living there, stair climbing is a daily struggle.
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