Abstract:

Like Europe, Australia has an ageing population with the percentage of people 65 and older expected to double, and those 85 and older to quadruple, in the first half of the 21st Century. Appropriate housing for older people is often stereotyped as the retirement village or the residential aged care institution (popularly referred to as nursing homes) when in fact the vast majority of older people remain living in regular single storey, detached, three or more bedroom housing in the general community until death or the very late stages of life. This is encouraged by government policy which over recent decades has progressively stepped up support services for older people in the home to include even those with dementia. This raises questions as to how well current housing and neighbourhood environments are able to support ageing in place, facilitate health and wellbeing, and encourage social and economic participation. Recent metropolitan urban policy and strategic planning in Australia is also advocating transit-oriented development with a hierarchy of mixed use centres – mixed in terms of land use as well as social characteristics – presumably inclusive of an increasing number of older people. Healthy planning principles are also being advocated with the aim of increasing participation for a wider range of the population. There is also evidence also that the post war “baby boomers”, now entering the aged cohort are less disposed towards age-specific housing enclaves. In the light of these trends, this paper will explore the perspectives of older people concerning the merits of age specific enclave living versus integration in the general community based on a recent study funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. The implications of these findings for future ageing, housing and planning policy, and for the development industry, will then be discussed.