Funded by General Research Fund, Research Grant Council, Hong Kong (Amount: HKD 621,992)
Typical Urban Green Spaces commonly used by elderly people in Hong Kong.
Green and open space in urban area has gained attention in recent years, especially for its capacity to improve the well-being of ageing population in high-density cities. Including Hong Kong, Asian cities is expecting a rapid growing elderly population, and promoting healthy ageing will become a major challenge. The aim of this study is to understand elderly’s perception, usage of urban green space, and develop design practices and evidence-based design guidelines for urban planners and designers based on the findings. We investigate the elderly’s perception, usage of urban green space in their neighbourhood as well as their health by questionnaire survey and conduct statistical analysis to determine their interrelationship.
Site audit and questionnaire survey has been conducted in urban green space across districts in Hong Kong. Results show that elderly’s usage pattern varied across types of urban green space, which are different in size, landscape design and facilities offered. Certain perceived qualities of urban green space have also been identified to be linked with elderly’s usage intensity, which could help in promoting the use of these spaces. The next step is to put these findings into application. Urban planners and designers will be engaged for seminars and workshops, the collaboration will work in an effort to contribute to the existing design guidelines and industry practices.