A Study on the Role of Gardening and Planning of Green Environments for Daily Use by Residents in Senior Housing

Abstract

This study examines and analyzes the current state of gardening facilities for residents in 11 senior citizen housing complexes and their understandings, actual gardening behaviors and their effects. The objective is to suggest a direction for the planning of gardening and its spatial composition in senior housing complexes. The study used surveys and interviews and conducted field visits to examine actual gardening facilities. The study produced the following outcomes.1) Elderly people had high expectations that gardening would bring them ′mental comfort and physical health′. Though they are experiencing mental comfort, direct effects on physical health were not seen.2) The common gardening space provided by the facilities subject to the research, were small in size compared to the number of residents and it was inconvenient since it did not take into consideration the characteristics of the gardening activities.3) Elderly people found that gardening encouraged social interactions with other residents and enriched their daily lives.4) Residents in senior housing complexes chose places as gardening spaces that are close to their flats, in particular their living rooms and on the same level for easy horizontal access. From the result of this research, it was clear that diverse gardening space should be provided for the residents to choose and freely express their individual characteristics. In addition, instead of providing a dedicated gardening space, a multipurpose area that could also be used for diverse hobbies was more practical.