Trading Community by yuhsin Liu

Trading Community Aging and Exchanging in the suburban community Liu,Yu-Hsin

TRADING COMMUNITY

Student: 0605761 Yu-hsin Liu Supervisor: Anuschka Kutz

Publish date: 20/06/2017 Programme: Master of Architecture (Brussels) Organizational Unit: Faculty of Architecture Course unit: A43072 : maib42 Master Dissertation Acadamic year: 2016/2017

Content

0 Introduction

1 Old Age Aging and disability Identity Aging in Place Case: Grandparents

2 Suburb Suburban Communities Patterns Bromley

3 Reasearch Question

4 Research Framework Social Space Bonding and Bridging Sharing Resouces

5 Progress First Concept Boundary Sites Urban Strategy

6 Design Proposal Elements Inner Lane Day Nursery Meeting Point Shops Center

7 Appendix

INTRODUCTION

This is a project about aging and suburbia, with the site located in the suburbia borough of Bromley. Aging is a process that we all face. It can be discussed in many ways and I would like to discuss the identity in this project. To remind the older person that he is an individual instead of a part of homogenous group called elderly, I want to give them more options of life and more chances to interact with the environment.

Bromley has many typical suburbia features such as cheap land, more privacy and more nature. On the other hand, the low-density of the borough also makes it difficult for its inhabitants to have access to the resources and the fewer common space. These are the main problems I observe.

In this project, I try to propose some informal ways of aging in the suburb. I take the older people as initiators of the activities in a society instead of just passive receivers. They function through trading the resources they have, either with the financial capital or social capital.This research is conducted with an aim to provide the older people with more chances to trade as well as more spaces to trade in. The proposed urban strategy is to increase the density and make these spaces the interface of trading. The result of my design is not a fixed project with everything planned, but a project to discover some possibilities of what the resources to trade can be and how these trades can help the elderly age in place. I will provide various options which they might not yet have thought of,so that they can choose a way to improve their life or invent a new way to use the space based on my intervention.

I will start with the discussion of the identity of the elderly and the analysis of the suburb of Bromley, and then I will zoom in from both sides to reach the final result.

OLD AGE

Aging is a process of growing, and it shows some characteristics that most people share in this process. Humans all grow old gradually in different ways as every person is an individual though they may share similar features. People in the same age can have entirely different situations, and people in a similar situation can have different identities as the aging process is a comparison of the experience of the present with that of the past (Barnhart and PeĂąaloza, 2013). As a result, I prefer to study this issue with some of the features they might have rather than regard them as a homogeneous group of people, and I want to show the possibilities of living with aging, in some informal ways. The society usually has a limited imagination about how a life of the elderly should be, which restricts some possibilities for a distinct old life. People provide similar things for the elderly, indiscriminately old. The truth is that not everyone should live in the same way. On the other hand, the elderly themselves also assume aging is a process of loss: losing health, losing energy, losing job, losing habit, etc. The aging process makes them feel they lose certain characters at the same time, and due to the limitations of their capacity to accomplish particular tasks, they also lose some of the freedom to make choices.

The identities are reshaped during the shifts in the life cycle. For example, the shift from a care-giver of a child to a care-receiver from the child, or the shift from a worker to a retiree. These shifts may make them submissive to live like the "old person" and hence miss the opportunities to pursue a different life. However, the identities can be reshaped in another way. People without jobs are not useless. They

pic.1 The picture was taken during the fieldtrip. It shows a person is gardening in front of the house. I think gardening is a symbol of display identity espeicialy in the front yard which can be percieved by whoever pass by.

pic.2 My grandfather still rided a motorcycle in his late 80's.

can show their value in many ways. Furthermore, a person in the care home where he/she could not do anything, can still create some working opportunities. I think the elderly are not just the passive receivers of care but they can be the active initiators who get involved in and have influence on the society. I would like to work on the preservation of the identity of the aged and find the resources that they can trade to support a life they prefer.

AGING AND DISABILITY

As people grow old, they start to degenerate more or less. In the Coming of Age, de Beauvoir mentions that Galen describes this situation as "lying between illness and health1". Aging is different from sickness. However, "there is a mutual relationship between old age and disease2". The older group are potentially more susceptible to the disease than the young. The degenerative process is one of the features among the old age, which reflects the functional decline. "Functional decline (FD) is characterized by the loss of physical, social, and/or thinking capacity." (Grimmer et al., 2015; Grimmer et al., 2013; Fried et al., 2004; Rockwood et al., 2004; Rockwook et al., 2005)3. It is usually used to describe the capacity of a person to accomplish the basic activities of daily life (Grimmer et al.,2013), and thus it is highly related to whether people can live independently. As the degenerative process is a long-term process, there is no absolute relation whether quarantee that people can still be capable of maintaining the daily life by themselves. People live in a more dangerous situation if they have more FD, which means that they face greater risk of mortality in case of an accident or a fall. I would like to discuss the different aspects of FD and how it happens to the elderly.

De Beauvior, p.18 De Beauvior, p.28 3 Grimmer et al, p.1804 2

Physical disability The symptom of aging in the body is the physical decline, which causes different levels of disability. From the survey by The Women's Health and Aging Study (fig.1) we can have a general idea of how the disabilities contribute to the difficulties in some abilities and how frequently it happens among the elderly. According to the table, we can notice that the mobility problem (walking 2-3 blocks) happens on almost threefourths of the participants. It is the most significant difference between them and the young people, and thus should be well considered when we plan.

Social isolation Physical disability has a tremendous impact on the social activity as the human body is still one of the main agencies for social interaction. Mobility is a crucial factor in maintaining the social relationships among the aged. Also, the disability of sensory

Frail Disability (difficulty in task) Walking 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3 blocks Meal preparation Using telephone Bathing Dressing Homebound Live alone Still drive Sensory impairment Trouble with blurred vision Not able to see well enough to recognize someone across the room Difficulty with hearing hampers personal or social life

28% 74% 19% 10% 45% 21% 15% 46% 25% 37% 5% 9%

fig. 1 Characteristics of Moderately and Severely Disabled Women, Aged 65 to 101 Years, in the Community: The Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health and Aging Study I (n = 1002)

can be the buffer when the older interact with others. The death of friends and relatives make their social connection shattered. All of these reasons contribute to the social isolation of the elderly.

IDENTITY

4 The seven identity structures are founded by Vasile (2008), and following are some further description about each identity structure:

Physical Identity: own corporality, the bio-physical personal characteristics. Cultural Identity: identification with a particular culture and religion. Family Identity: identification as a member of a family with their own behavior patterns. Professional Identity: identification with a particular p ro fe ss i o n a l ca te g o r y a n d a certain job. Self-esteem: re s p e c t fo r t h e o w n p e r s o n in terms of physical, social, professional, cultural and family. Behavior towards itself: how the person behaves towards itself, as a result of the selfesteem level.

The identity relates to the concept of "self" (Vasile, 2011). Self-image refers to the unique characteristics of every person, and it forms who you are and how you look like, and makes a distinction between one person and another. This difference forms identity, which helps people reduce the frailty during aging (Gale et. al., 2013), and it fosters the senior to live healthily and in well-being (Gardner, 2013).

The construction of identity refers to how people perceive the relation between one's "self" and other objects (Vasile, 2011; Bong & Clark, 1999; Byrne, 1984; Byrne & Worth, 1996; Shavelson & Bolus 1982). Therefore, the process happens in the interaction with the environment. The interface is called "identity structure" (Vasile, 2008), and Vasile suggests there are seven fundamental identity structures: Physical Identity, Social Identity, Cultural Identity, Family Identity, Professional Identity, Selfesteem, Behavior towards itself4. The identity formation is a process throughout our whole life (Warren, 1992) and it is dynamic according to different situations we are in.

As the identity can be influenced by the job, the shift from working to retirement is a significant factor in the formation of identity in aging. That is one of the reasons why some people still seek different kinds of work after retiring. However, the identity can also be established by other interfaces. I think that to help people emphasize some kinds of identity structures can help them preserve their identities during aging. I would like to discuss them in the following paragraph.

_Self-Efficacy and Identity Self-efficacy is how much you believe in yourself that you can accomplish the task. It relates to the physical situation of your body, and it is usually a comparison to the past. Barnhart and PeĂąaloza (2013) discuss the difference between aging and getting old. We all keep aging continuously. While the loss of certain abilities makes people feel old, it varies according to different experiences and the individuality of people. The self-efficacy affects not only the mobility of the person (Gardner,2013) but also the way they deal with the environment. People avoid doing something as they think they will fail, but sometimes they can complete the task with some help. A simple example: the elevator helps the elderly go higher. I think to provide some assistance infrastructures can protect people from the reduction in activeness, and provide different choices when they deal with the environment.

_Social Connection and Idenpendence When people get old, their social capital shrinks by retiring, losing relatives or friends, decreasing mobility and etc., but the social capital plays an important role in supporting their independent life. It provides support during the falls, and the social connection also helps people present their independence while interacting with others (Gardner,2013). Providing activities and opportunities to meet with other people will enhance the connection between the residents, and the activities related to community-building increase the shared sense (Greenfield et al., 2012). Independence not only gives people more confidence and self-esteem but also helps them have more freedom and privacy, all of which will effect a better social connection. Although connection and independence sound like two opposite concepts, they can and should cooperate with each other.

_Consumption and identity As aging makes people reduce ability, some older adults rely on consumption for daily life as an alternative way (WeltĂŠ, 2015). Identity can be constructed through activities related to consumption (Barnhart and PeĂąaloza, 2013; Firat and Venkatesh 1995). Every decision made by people is an expression of preference and condition. Besides, people feel independent when they consume even though they pay for help. The sense of the abilility to afford something makes the difference between being passive and active.

AGING IN PLACE

As people grow old, they will experience illness or degeneration in varying degree, but most people still prefer to stay in their houses over going to a care home where they might get better help (Gitlin, 2003). As "aging in Place Tied to Sense of Identity, Linked to Independence and Autonomy (Wiles et al., 2011, p.363)," it means a lot more to them when old people can stay at home. The link to the community, the environment, the sense of attachment are all features associated with aging in place. Aging in place as a choice is not necessarily the first choice for everyone in their life. Some people prefer to stay in a care home, but some people are forced to leave their home because they can not live independently anymore. I think it is possible to support some of these people in certain ways to avoid the move and provide them with more freedom to choose a lifestyle they prefer.

Aging in place and identity Living at home with your own things and belongings gives a sense of identity formed by memories. In this aspect, the identity of one person is an important factor of aging in place (Wiles et al., 2012). The occupation of the house, on the other hand, plays a symbolic role to indicate the socioeconomic

status and the position in the social

network.

Aging in place and community support Grimmer (2015, p.1806) suggests there are three themes and eight key elements to help people aging in place successfully according to the interview with elderly. Which are: Health: support for self-management, health professionals as needed. Information services: timely, accessible, online, face to face, one stop. Practical support: targeted, timely, self-directed, affordable. Finance: subsidies for those in need. Keeping active: physically and mentally. Company: community, family, and pets. Transport: affordable, reliable, accessible. Safety: personal, in a house, and with environmental safety and security.

CASE: Life of my Grandparents

I took my grandparents' case as a beginning to have a closer look at what the life of elderly can be like. I noted down the daily routine and the way they use space, and several things attract me.

_Preferable place to stay They have three main spots to stay for a long period. I track the view from where they 1

sit and notice that there is always something for them to watch, either some activities or passers-by.

_Auxiliary elements As they grow old, they get more and more products to support their life. Some of them are fixed in the house which shows the appropriation to the environment and some of which change their image as it will show together when they go out such as the walking stick. 2

_Shrink of private space The house is not an entirely private space anymore as they hire a person to take care of them. Space becomes different, and it also influences the setting in the house. The moving pattern in the shared space is also interesting as they have to adapt to each other. Sometimes they avoid the space occupied by the other while sometimes one may go to certain place to be with another.

Grand Floor Plan and favor spots 1 and 2 are semi-outdoor space, which is very comfortable during hot seasons and raining. 3 is in the living room where they spend most of the time in.

The wall on the back forms a sense of stable. This spot is also nice when the weather is good.

little walk around the house

drive to the market

move slowly (200 m for 30 min)

(600m away from home)

twice a day

2 persons

groceries

handrail for support to stand up

can not stant for a long time

read books, documents

before12:00 watch TV, read the tape

only wearing a small range of the cloths which are put outside the closet on the desk or chairs. most of the cloths are stored inside the closet and boxes. sell/ buy stock through phone call

SUBURB

The suburb is on the edge of the urban area. It is a place between city and rural area. People who live in the suburb are often still highly connected to the city center because they may work there or consume in the urban region (Lupi & Musterd, 2006) and also because the opportunities and choices are relatively fewer in the suburb. As a result, the suburb is associated with the urban and would be influenced when the city sprawls or transforms. There are some features that most suburban areas share. However, suburbs have various characteristics, and the social network may also range from very high to low. Furthermore, the suburban communities that have existed for decades are now transforming as a result of the shifting demographic structure. Changes are happening in the urban region so that the future suburb might lead to very different and diverse in living patterns in the future suburbs. I want to discover the potential in the district, as there are some advantages such as the relatively cheap land and more possibilities to touch the nature.

pic. 3 satellite image of Bromley. (Source: Google Map)

pic. 4 A fram of suburban dream (Bernard Hoffman, Life Magazine, Time Warner, Inc. Peck and Deyle, p. 650.)

SUBURBAN COMMUNITY

The community can refer to a big family living together, a group of people sharing the ownership, a particular area considered together with its inhabitant, and even a body of nation or state unified by common interests5. It can also be defined as a group of people sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common. The communities in a suburb are different from those in the urban area because of the different environment and composition of residents. The concept of community relates to the social capital (Debertin & Goetz, 2013), as they both deal with the relationships of the residents. What I want to focus on here is to discuss the general features of what the residents share in suburban communities and the impact on the environment.

Suburban Dream The suburb does not always present same characteristics due to the history of formation or the composition of residents with different background and can be really different, ranging from the rich communities for the upper-middle-class houses to the townhouse in the periphery of the urban area (Lupi & Musterd, 2006). However, the concept of suburb still shares some common features, which can lead to the concept of the suburban dream. From 1950's the Suburban Dream has become an ideal lifestyle for a large group of middle-class: "a suburban lifestyle involved gardening, barbequing in the backyard, home-based socialising, pet owning, a substantial amount of driving, sunbaking by the pool" (Willing & Pojani, 2017), singlefamily detached residence, spacious house and private garden (Williamson,2013), and also linking to the concept of nuclear family (Lucas, 2002). As a result, the settlers of suburbs form a selective migration which results in a relatively homogeneous

Definition from Oxford Dictionary. According to it, it has another definition in Ecology:" A group of interdependent plants or animals growing or living together in natural conditions or occupying a specified habitat", but it is not related to what this progect discusses about so it is not included in the text. available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/community

pattern of the residents (Martin, 1956). For example, the household pattern is usually composed of young new married couple with little children, and the socioeconomic status is described as middle class.

Critics Suburbanization is defined as a not sustainable approach of urban strategy due to the insufficient of mobility, and also the impacts on the environment such as the pollution by the automobiles, the loss of public open space, and ecosystem fragmentation (Willing & Pojani, 2017). The development of suburbs is also described as creating "places without identityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;non-places," as they stated on the nature region "without history and tradition" (Lupi & Musterd, 2006). Also, the suburban street view is quite boring as the houses look so similar, and the private-owned cars parking in front of the house make the street view even more dismal (Williamson, 2013).

Transforming Although the hypothesis about suburb social relationships is that the homogeneity will foster the interaction and the participation of local organization (Martin, 1956), the interaction in the suburban community is not always flourishing. Study shows that the residents here are really family-central, which means they are not necessary to be willing to take part in the local organization, as the residents are here to seek the good way to spend with their family but not with their neighbors (Lupi & Musterd, 2006), and their next generation is also influenced by this concept and imaging to live also in a place apart from work and have more privacy and peace (Willing & Pojani, 2017). They focus on the privacy from the spacious land and safety in the suburbs. The recent trend of increasing privatized land also influences the lack of space to communicate, which also pertains to the low-density pattern and less mobility in the suburbs.

There are also other changes that affect on the transformation of suburban Lupi & Musterd, 2006, p.805 Willing & Pojani (2017). p. 6-7

communities. The aging population will reshape the feature in the suburb, as it will

influence both the association in the suburb and the services in the community. The extension of the city can also make the position of the area shift as the boundary enlargement and the population flow. The increasing density emerges the problem that it requires more walls or buffers between each other to divide the plots (Williamson, 2013) and maintain the privacy. The development of clusters of shops makes the town centers have some similar characteristics to the urban region, and there is where the conflicts happen in the keeping suburban value and provide the convenience to the residents (Lupi & Musterd, 2006). These are all issues we need to take into consideration of the future of suburban communities.

pic. 5 Radburn, New Jersey, 1928 (source: Clarence S. Stein, Toward New Towns for America, 1957, 42.)

PATTERNS IN SUBURB

As the development of the suburban community, there is also the theory about an ideal plan of the living environment. Radburn planning (Pic. 4) describes a conceptual setting of the suburban communities, where the pedestrian and the cars are separate. The path dedicated to different usages can make the pathway safer and calmer. This pattern can be seen in many suburban districts. Another pattern frequently promoted in the suburban communities is the dead-end road (cul-de-sac). It forms an independent area which blocks people and cars outside the community, and the roads inside can stay quite and link to the busy street in the end. Although it provides a private and safe environment for the residents, it is criticized due to the reduced cohesion in this kind of neighborhoods (Wentling, 1994), as it does not form a network with other community.

pic. 6 Street view of bromley (source: the author during fieldtrip)

Bromley

elderly (65+) rate

not born in UK rate

housing price

cars per shousehold

density

households owned rate

Bromley is one of London borough in the southeast of the Greater London. Bromley has some suburbia features such as the low density and the pattern of houses. It has highly homogenuity in the origin and high rate of aging6. The relatively high rate of car owned per household and self-owned house indicate the car-dominant and stable suburban community character. Bromley in the Greater London 6

data source: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/ward-profiles-and-atlas

Demography and the Aged Society

percentage of elderly (65+) by ward

Bromley average

elderly (65+) rate

Bromley has 17.45% of older people (65+) in 2013, which is 11.4% in London as a comparison7, and it is predicted to keep increasing in the future. However, the population is also estimated to grow in the following years.

households size

data source: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/ward-profiles-and-atlas UK Census Data

The distances

Inner London

20 km

Bromley South

1.6

1.3 km

commercial residensial railway and station

Cars owned by per households8

data source: UK Census Data

pic.7-12 Houses in Bromley (source: the author during fieldtrip)

pic. 13-16 Roads and paths in Bromley (source: the author during fieldtrip)

garden group

Mapping the residents Goes to London every week for garden group

Sydemham Bromley: once a month by car “We don’t go to London because Bromley has everything.”

Octavio from Brazil retired form an opera singer wife is wtill working

living in Penge for 10 years in an Victorian house Oﬃce

Toilet

Living Room

Bedroom

Penge

daily: swimming, meeting fri go to Beckenham for groceri

Bromley: twice a month Beckenham

sometimes goes to Beckenham for shopping

Toilet

kictchen

used to play in a professional club in Croydon John his wife is still working

Favorite part: high ceiling and large window make it very bright

goes for ta (Mon by bu

Croydon YMCA tabel tennis club

go to countryside in the weekend painting and picnic

meeting once a Women’s Institu

Bromley: once a week by bus (10~15 min)

367

retired from Tesco (3 min walk from h

Catford

Paula 82 years old her third husband lives in the care home after stroke

lady’s cancer organization goes to Bromley by bus to the table tennis club every Friday morning

organization for professional lady retired

She works as volunteer for lady’s cancer and organization for professional lady retired She think the accessibility is very important in the space for old-age (lift, ramp).

Mrs Carney 86 years old takes bus to the table tenniss club (10~15 min) and take another bus back because her home is on a slope so that she don’t have to climb

She also join the diners club. They choose diﬀerent nice restaurant every week. (She recommended 2 restaurant: Buddha Belly and Aqua)

iends ies 80’s Lady living in Beckenham for 58 years after married lost husband lives with her children (and grandgrandchild)

Bromley

Aqua

Bromley: 1~2 per week by bus for the stores and coﬀee shops

table tennis club

to Bromey twice a week able teniss club nday: single/ Friday: double) us

Buddha Belly

table tennis club Most people in the club are over 50 years old. The average age of the club is 60~65 years old. Every Friday morning They pay 30 pounds per term (12 weeks)

Quakers

Shortland goes to Bromley by bus to the table tennis club from Kent but goes to the table tennis club in Bromley (traveling 1 hour) because the table teniss club in Kent is not as competetive as the one in Bromley.

Kathy 60 years old unmarried living at current apartment since 2005

two-storey house Bedroom

358

Living Room

a week ute

261

West wickham Leisure Center swimming once a week

West wickham

Kitchen

Toilet

Bedroom

336

Bathroom

half by bus and half by car

Bedroom

Bromley: every week for shopping and meeting friends Quakers

o home)

85 years old start everyday with dog walk

describe Bromley “ has lowest density and is the second wealth area among London borough. a lot of celebrities is from here.(ex: H.G.Wells, David Bowie, Billy Idol and Charles Darwin)” living in Locksbottom since 2010 his wife is from Hongkong Locksbottom

High Elms Country Park

Pattern of housing

closed block

path inside block

one-side block

free-stand building

inner court

Pattern of Commercial Space

supermarket restaurant dry cleaner hair food take away cafe pet printshop windows wine insurance

estate agent newsstand wine shop grocery ooring restaurant secind-hand car

supermarket restaurant butchery dry cleaner barber hair cafe electronic insurance ower motorist grocery taxi bridal parcel wine material gas station

restaurant owers food takeaway hair salon pensions barber electronic cigerrat garden electronic music news beding gas station

1 km

pharmacy ower grocery estate agent supermarket wine shop cafe food electronic dry cleaner gambling copyshop beauty hair salon gas station

supermarket restaurant motorcycle food take away cafe funding car x shoes hair ower second-hand post oďŹ&#x192;ce material gas station

pic. 17, 18 Different kinds of shops inBromley (source: the author during fieldtrip)

Mixed use

pic. 19, 20 Mixed use of shops inBromley (source: the author during fieldtrip)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How can we help the preservation and formation of identity in aging by means of space strategy? Older people have fewer opportunities to engage with different environments due to the loss of energy to travel to longer distance. Promoting more interfaces in the local environment will provide a solution. I would like to test different ways to foster identity formation and link the issue to spatial solutions.

What can we add in the suburb to help the residents sharing resource? As the population is estimated to increase, I think it is reasonable to propose a denser approach in Bromley. The density can also help the residents to share the resource, but the privatized and divided space make it hard to link to each other. I want to create the in-between space which fosters the exchange of activities and encourages people to share.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

SOCIAL SPACE

To study the social space, I would like to examine it by two dimensions: the social function of space and the individual social space. In Lefebvre's theory of the triad of space (1991) 9, he defined three concepts of spaces, namely, spatial practice, representations of spaces, and representational space. In this aspect, social space is the production of activities and relationships.

Based on this theory, Soja developed a similar space concept which is the third spaces (1996). According to the concept, Firstspace is a similar concept to the 9

"abstract space" in Lefebvre's theory (Saatcioglu & Corus, 2016). It is the physical and material space that we live in in everyday life. Firstspace deals with the hierarchical order (Saatcioglu & Corus, 2016), and it creates the "geographies of privilege" (Soja, 2010) which results in the exclusion. Secondspace is the imagined space of those who try to plan the space. It is idealized and sometimes does not present the need of the inhabitants.

Thirdspace is "lived space" (Soja, 1996). It is the social space that connects firstspace and secondspace, and is where the material space and ideal space interact. Thus the conflicts arise, and it represents the resistance to the dominant order. Social space contains not only the "object" but also the relationships, and it adds value through the activities of users and inhabitants.

Lefebvre's (1991) theory of the triad of space: Spatial practice: the perceived space. It relates to the spatial patterns. I is the space of daily routine. It produces activities, behavior pattern, and everyday life experiences. R e p re s e n ta t i o n s o f s p a ce : the conceived space. It is the conceptualized space planned by scientist, planner, enigeneer and so on. The space is linked to the production and order. Representational space: the lived space. It is the space of "inhabitant" and "users," and sometime also the artists. The appropriation and change form the space. It is tied to the social practice. Siagian (2016), p.267

Firstspace

breakfast body wash dog walk laundry lunch dinner watching TV grocery shopping

Secondspace

walk taking a bus

Senior center Visiting nurse Personal assistance Transportation Senior lunch Hospice Housekeeping Nursing home Helpline Home repair Adult day program

Firstspace and aging As firstspace is the daily life and refers to the material space, the shift in life stage will reshape the firstspace related to the person. For example, people do not need to go to the workplace anymore after they are retired. The elderly usually maintain a daily routine, so space is quite familiar. The built environment has limited accessibility for the elderly, which can be stairs, the gate, or distance. Moreover, the accessibility also has effects on the exclusion.

Secondspace and aging There is a set of spaces planned for the elderly, such as the care home, the elderly center, and the adult day program. Moreover, the equipments that help the people with functional decline can stay in the same place.

Thirdspace and aging People can use the same space at different age and in a different situation in their life. The users can keep creating new value for the place during the aging process, and they can keep finding some space that is not suitable for them anymore.

SOCIAL SPACE: CASE Golf Club and Men in Sheds

During our field trip, we visited Sundridge Park Golf Club and Men in Sheds Penge. The group members come here not only for the habit but they also come to meet the other members. Sundridge Park Golf Club even has a social membership for those who do not play golf but still want to come and involve in the group. The members add value to the space and make it social.

Sundridge Park Golf Club The inside of the golf club has some spots for people to take a rest and eat something. During the visit, we saw some people chatting around the place. The interior of the club looks like a cafeteria. People break into small groups to talk to each other.

Men in Sheds Penge The place has limited space for people to work ,and the arrangement controls the group in a reasonable size so that each group will not become too big and its members may know one of others. The setting in the working space is to put everything next to the walls and everyone works back to back. They interact through the discussion of methods or just through asking some questions.

pic. 21, 22 Some interaction spaces in the golf club. (source: the author during fieldtrip)

pic. 23-25 Men in Sheds. (source: the author during fieldtrip)

Individual social space

INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL SPACE

Individual social space is defined as "the sum of all the social network of the person, geographical mobilities and emplacements, and communication networks that link that individual into a specific constellation of assemblages. (Wiley et al., 2010, p.342). It includes all the possible place where the person has interaction with others. The social space can be in the home or open space, or even through the internet. The interaction happens through the socio-spacial agency, and it also forms a bond between individuals.

The individual social space of an older adult is assumed to be smaller due to the loss of familiar people, less mobility, or less active. A survey (Wiles et al., 2009) shows that 62 percent of the participants feel their social space reduced during the last five to ten years. However, in some case, it is also possible to increase. According to this research, the main reason for the change of their social is the death of friends and relatives. The health issue also makes them give up some of the activities, such as movies or dancing, as their physical situations do not allow them to take part in these activities, and the health of others will affect their social space as well. Also, in addition to the health problem, the loss of the ability to drive a car is the third common reason mentioned by the participants. Losing the capacity to drive means they are not as free as before to go around, and as a result they need to go out by the public transportation or have to ask someone to give them a ride.

BONDING AND BRIDGING

Making a neighborhood out of the community requires the sense of belonging, which is the social connection between residents. The connection includes residents with residents and residents with the environment. Residents gain the sense of bonding with the place through daily spatial practice and the social interaction with the neighbors.

Bonding and bridging are two aspects of social capital. Bonding is the inward connection with someone who shares the same identity, and bridging is to connect to other groups who are different in social characteristics (Murayama et al., 2015; Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). The social network is built up with these two type of connections. Studies show that stronger social capital helps the self-rated health and reduce the stress (Beaudoin, 2009), and it also plays a supporting role in aging in place.

Place Attachment Place attachment is the link between physical space and people. It relates to the sense of belonging and engagement in the community. The attachment will be stronger if the user interacts more with space.

Home is usually the center for people to shape their attachment. The older people usually have "living centers" (Wiles et al., 2009) where they use more frequently, and it can be next to the windows or in the hallway, but usually, it is a place where they can observe some activities. According to the research (Wiles et al., 2009), participants pay much more attention to the nature such as trees, garden, and animals, while some like to watch people pass by, which requires space with the street view. The environment condition is also a crucial factor in deciding on their place of favor. For example, the sunshine can make a space attractive.

Space identity promotes the place attachment in the way of making the space distinct from the others. Nature of the space and built environment shape the physical characteristics of the space. Shared place or resources provide the shared sense through the coherence in the communities. Places such as local shops or social services create the social aspect of identity, which also includes the social network in the neighbors.

Social Capital Community in social aspect will be interdependent with social capital. Social capital is a measurement of the strength of connection to the social network. Moreover, the stronger network forms a better sense of community. As mentioned in the previous chapter, people gradually lose the social connection when aging, mostly by death and health decline, but despite these reasons, the decreased possibilities to engage in the community activities are also a buffer for them to connect to the neighborhoods (Nyqvist et al., 2013).

The features of the physical environment are hypothesized to influence on the sociocultural context of the community (Baum et al., 2011), which is indicated in the theory of firstspace, in which the physical space can create segregation. The occupation and ownership of the physical space or material resources is an indication of the social relationship (Everingham et al., 2015). House ownership is especially crucial among suburban community features. The ownership indicates the stability, and it encourages the emergence of associations in the communities (Debertin & Goetz, 2013).

Providing the opportunities for people to meet, to share, or to enable them to be in the same space can promote the neighborhood cohesion and formation of social capital. As a result, shared space and walkable neighborhoods can provide more life space for residents to gain social capital (Lehning, 2011). Shared space makes people have something in common, and the accessibility makes the space alive rather than a car-dominant area, and walking through the neighborhood enables more activities to happen. In the interview of the elderly living in communities (Walker & Hiller, 2007), the participants feel the sense of safety even by being known by the local shops. These kinds of casual interaction in daily life can lead to the social cohesion.

To promote the activities and shared sense in the communities, McDonough & Davitt

point out three feature to develop the social network: "Sense of and commitment to community," "ability to solve problems," and "access to resources." (2011, p533) In the case of their research, they build up a sense of and commitment to the community through volunteer/ member relationship (exchange and get what they need from each other) and the activities such as potluck dinner or book club. The process of identifying and solving problems is also the process to form the sense of community (Debertin & Goetz, 2013). It is a grassroots development in which the member can discuss their need and compromize to a plan that benefits all the neighborhood; it is like a groups appropriation to space. Greater accessibility to the resources plays the functional role of community building. It provides the capacity for people to live a better life here and also the cohesion among the neighborhood.

As the desire for privacy is one of the features among the suburban dweller, it is hard to maximize the publicness of the space. Walker and Hiller (2007) find that women live in the suburban community receive the help from the neighborhoods, but they protect their privacy as the interviewee claim that they have never been to each others' house. As a result, I think to create the intermedia space is important to encourage the activities in suburban communities.

_Sharing Resource

People become less active when growing old, so I think there should be some space that is not used by the residents very often, and same to some equipment and products. As a result I think it can be more efficient to share the resource. Furthermore, sharing the resource can make some resource more affordable for people.

back yard

room unused

car

community kitchen

First Concept

NECKLACE COMMUNITY

multi-function store restaurant

＋

community kitchen

cafe

＋

adult day program

bar

＋

helpline

meeting point at the entrance

Beckenham

entrance school

concept shared/ mix-use

make space social

circle

use the volum (not sure what it is, guess garage) to create visual barrier and the sense of private.

small senior center

inner road

link the sidewalk and front yard

make one plot pub to enter the block

main road

extension shelter

Cafe

Bromley

Church

Shortland

inner path

block

path entrance park

park

shops

Slope

Boundary

Boundary wall low wall fence green wall tree height difference

Boundary Types from Bromley

Site

Highfield Junior School Highfield Infant School

South Hill Wood Durham House

Site_1 Inner Lane

Site_4 Shops Center

St Marks C Of E Primary School

Bromley South

Site_2 Day Nurseries

Site_3 Meeting point

Site_1 Inner Lane

garden

building

extension

4.5 M

8.5 M

4.5 M

backyard 15 M

garage

road

5.5 M

5-7 M

Typical plan and section Scale: 1/300

Concept

Ideas of the adding programs

concept elevation

Site_2 Day Nurseries

Site_3 Meeting Point

Site_4 Shops Center

acy arm tore ph rs we ďŹ&#x201A;o e caf y cer gro

t gen

a ate est

ho p

et ark

erm

win

sup

ica

on ctr

big public space (parking) route in another layer

e caf d foo

ele blin

a cle

gam

dr y

crossing

shops with parking lots

roa usy

nt age ate op t s e h ys cop ty au lon be a ir s ha

URBAN STRATEGY

Add value in the Commercial Space

Shops Center

shops

pop-up shops market

Add value in the Back

Inner Lane

Add value in the Front

Day Nursery

open inner lane

shift

Meeting Point

Add value in the Open Space

the only way out

dead-end street

DESIGN PROPOSAL ELEMENTS

PROTOTYPES

WALL

USAGES

GATE

REENHOUSE

FIRSTSPACE STILT

YARD

SECONDSPACE

TRANSFORM AND ASSEMBLE

WALL

GATE

workshop market cafe

studio mini shop toilet

GREENHOU

mini shop classroom co-dining

mini shop cafe service spot

men in sheds kitchen + dining room cafe

studio + dwelling co-dining

men in sheds kitchen classroom

USE

STILT

studio mini shop kitchen

shared meeting room coworking

YARD

warehouse library car-sharing office treehouse

classroom farmhouse kitchen

studio + dwelling office

green house balcony

studio + dwelling office + shop

THIRDSPACE

PHASE 3 65

PHASING

PHASE 3

PHASE 2

PHASE 1

NOW

INNER LANE

DAY NURSERY + ADULT DAY PROGRAM

MEETING POINT

SHOPS CENTER

CONCLUSION

In this project, I try to discover the possibility of an aged life through promoting the identity formation. The mental well-being is highly related to the physical life. The elderly enhance the identity through interacting with other people and the environment, and they gain the resources they need for aging in place at the same time. This trading process is what I want to foster in the suburban communities as the chance is relatively low here.

With the structure, I offer the elderly and the other residents an easier way to trade their resources. Also, these spaces are the in-between space that enables them to perform public activities to host other neighbors. The residents present the identities while making the decisions about how to deal with the resources they have and how the relationship will be between their home and the extra space. This project shows not only the informal ways of aging in a suburban community but also discover the interdependence of identities and space.

REFERENCE

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