AGEING CHALLENGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 2005 by Koukkari, Heli, Sarvaranta, Leena

ABSTRACT. Ageing population and ageing infrastructure are two significant socioeconomic challenges, and business opportunities, for the construction sector in Europe. Utilisation of ICT in daily living is one of the future technology drivers. The principles of the Design for All (universal design) help to develop the built environment and its technologies in such a way that cities will be pleasant and supportive places for everybody. This paper considers the potential of new types of services and networking, which are very much under development at the moment and also under lively debate. The cost-effectiveness - and so the availability - of the home delivered services will be dependent on the accessibility of the urban areas.

KEYWORDS: Ageing population; Design for All; Built environment

1. INTRODUCTION

The inhabitants of the European countries are migrating to large cities and their metropolitan areas, which are typically the oldest and biggest ones. There are about 40 cities in Western Europe that have more than 500 000 inhabitants, among them Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Vienna (Dwelling in European cities, 2000). There are also several smaller centres that draw people from the rural areas. However, simply the lack of the appropriate dwellings does not represent the whole picture of the housing problem in cities. The demographic transition underway is rapidly increasing the proportion of elderly people. Their needs are a concern for all European Member States. For sustainable urban development, upgrading and social innovations are needed in housing, traffic and services.

Modern ICT offers new kinds of opportunities for responsive and supportive housing. It may widen the individual communication opportunities and provide assistance in everyday tasks. However, benefits of advanced technologies are possible only if residential surroundings and dwellings allow for their application.

2. NEW NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY PEOPLE

Nowadays, more than 90% of elderly people live in their own home, either as an owner or a tenant (Housing of the older people, 1999). This figure is anticipated to be increased, according to the goals of social and political decision makers. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Principles for Older People, in the year 1991. These call for action in many areas, among them including: Independence, Participation, Care, Self-fulfilment and Dignity.

Within a few generations, the demographic change is rapidly increasing the proportion of persons aged 60 years and above. In the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it is expected that this proportion will account for 1 person in 3 by the year 2030. At the same time, the share of the young people in the population is decreasing and the share of the very old - more than 80 years - people is increasing (http:// www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/ageing/ageinge.htm). Changing dependency ratios - in terms of the number of old people depending for their material safety on younger, economically active and wage-earning people - are bound to influence the development of any country.

However, the trend in housing and care services for the elderly people is "ageing at home", in familiar surroundings. Adaptations to the home, the provision of practical domestic aids to daily living and appropriately designed household equipment can make it easier for those elderly people whose mobility is restricted or who are otherwise disabled to continue to live in their own homes. Special attention should be paid to environmental problems and to designing a living environment that would take into account the functional capacity of the elderly and facilitate mobility and communication through the provision of adequate means of transport (Vienna International Plan of Action, 1982).

Many EU funded research programmes have focused on the principles and practices of planning, design and building of environments that fulfil the topical social and human needs. The European Commission has supported the multinational work of a widely accepted document on the accessibility concept (European Concept, 1996). Aspects of the more user-friendly building have already been present in the building codes of the Member States - based upon either the Construction Product Directive or the national strategy and laws. CEN and CENELEC have contributed to new Guidelines for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities, under mandates from the Commission and EFTA secretariat. A part of these guidelines covers the built environment.

For the residential construction sector this situation means there is also a great market potential - as there are growing needs to build new residential buildings and to renovate the already existing ones for these special needs (Siekkinen, 2003).

3. ACCESSIBILITY AS A CHALLENGE FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT

As one expression of the new kind of integration of different aspects of urban development, a collaboration project "Accessible and Safe Entrance Home - Accessible Footpath in a New Building Stock" was carried out at VTT Building and Transport together with VTT Information Technology and LT Consultants Ltd (Koukkari et al., 2001). The project was initiated during brainstorming meetings at the Future Home Institute at the Helsinki University of Art and Design. The background of the project was similar to the research project House_? at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; this was focused to study how the home and its related technologies, products, and services should evolve to better meet the opportunities and challenges of the future.