Post-occupancy evaluation of urban public housing in Korea: Focus on experience of elderly females in the ageing society

Female elderly individuals make up the majority of public housing residents. Inappropriate guidelines have been neglecting their differentiated needs and this has been negatively affecting their quality of life in public housing. Recognizing the specific needs of female seniors is a key to successful provision of public housing by the government because the proportion of female seniors in public housing has been increasing. This research aims to assess urban public rental housing through post-occupancy evaluation of six housing projects that were developed by public housing authorities in Korea. Focusing on flexibility, safety, accessibility and support for care, questionnaires and interviews were conducted to provide gender-sensitive directions for public housing designs in an ageing society. There are four main findings: (i) The nuclear family-oriented floor plan needs to be changed to provide flexibility reflecting the diverse lifestyles of one or two member residents. (ii) The life safety guideline that assumed housing is mainly catered for healthy young residents would need major revision. (iii) Accessibility issues would need to consider the presence of a caregiver and flexible application, depending on the lifecycle of elderly individuals. (iv) The support for care with a complicated smart home system would need improvement.