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2.5 THE MAIN PROBLEM STATEMEN
from ECKARD, AC -
by jacques_23
2.4 THE SOCIAL PROBLEM:
“Old people need old people, but they also need the young, and young people need contact with the old” – A Pattern Language (Alexander, et al., 1977, p. 216)
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In A Pattern Language (1977, pp.216-219), Alexander, et al., indicate the natural tendency for the elderly to gather into communities. When these communities become too isolated and clustered, it can lead to segregation within cities and towns with no chance for the various age demographics to benefit from each other’s company. This segregation then causes rifts within each individual’s life: as the older people live in isolated elderly communities, they pass away with their ties to their past and heritage. This loss of wisdom damages the younger generations’ ties due to their history and culture as it is unacknowledged and lost in time. Therefore, dissociation among the young is more prone to happen (Alexander, et al., 1977).
In order to reintegrate the elderly socially, they should share the same streets, shops, services, and public spaces with the rest of the public, enabling social connections. However, the elderly also need a community of other elderly people (Alexander, et al., 1977, p.216). Therefore, according to Alexander, et al. (1977, p. 219), one must design retirement communities so that they can provide the elderly with the proper care they require:
1. Retirement communities should be in the neighbourhood the elderly know best 2. Retirement communities must be small enough to allow the elderly to live together and not isolate them from the rest of the neighbourhood 3. Retirement communities must accommodate elderly people who are still independent enough to live self-sufficiently, without losing the benefits associated with the facility (activity halls, TV rooms, dining halls, etc.) 4. Retirement communities must accommodate the elderly who require nursing care or prepared meals without the elderly travelling far from their neighbourhoods. With these requirements incorporated into the elderly landscape of South Africa, one could create a strategy to have small pockets of elderly people throughout instead of having a high concentration of elderly in one specific area/district. This spread of the elderly will then allow the symbiosis between the various generations to happen while simultaneously providing the elderly with the support they require within their small communities (Alexander, et al., 1977).
FIGURE 2.5: The Neighbourhood The Elderly Knows The Best.
2.5 THE MAIN PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Due to the phenomenon known as the silver tsunami and the current rapid pace of life, there is an increase in elderly people who require a place to retire. This increase in the elderly population will have an impact on the residential landscape of South Africa. The current traditional retirement typology is seen as places where people who are too busy and stressed can dump their elderly to live out the remainder of their lives in small, beige, lifeless rooms. This abandonment leads to the elderly having a sense of worthlessness and depression. The depression then allows self-neglect to happen.
CHAPTER THREE:
CONTEXT AND SITE ANALYSIS:
3.1 LOCATION
3.2 SITE CRITERIA
3.3 ZONING 3.4 ACCESS AND TRANSPORTATION
3.1 LOCATION:
Alongside the neighbouring suburbs of Eloffsdal and Villiera in Pretoria, the central-western suburb of Mayville was established in 1896 and is one of Pretoria’s oldest suburbs (South African History Online, n.d.). This site is on the corner of Fred Nicholson Street and Corelli Avenue. The site is directly connected to Mayville pre-primary school and a Telkom SA Substation. There is also a signal tower on the site. Predominantly residential areas surround the site, and the site is adjacent to the Eugene Marais Hospital and the specialists’ offices associated with the hospital.
FIGURE 3.1: Context Maps (Author, 2021).
3.2 SITE CRITERIA:
The following criteria were used in the process of finding the appropriate site for the mini-dissertation: • Is the site easily accessible to older generations? • Is the site close to an educational institution for
younger people (Grades 1-12)? • Is the adjacent context appropriate for intergenerational interaction? • Is the adjacent context beneficial to the site? • Is the site easily accessible with public transport?
FIGURE 3.2: Pretoria Map (Author, 2021, Adapted From Google Maps).
