Neighborhood Environment and the Elderly’s Subject Well-being

Abstract

Background: In the context of an aging society, the physical and mental health and quality of life of the elderly have received more and more attention. Among them, in the field of mental health of the elderly, subject well-being is an important concern. Many studies have shown that the environment has a certain impact on people's mental health. In the field of landscape, public health and architecture, most of the studies focus on the natural environment, including the number and proportion of green space, the distance to green space, the characteristics of green space, as well as the building density, building form, road network density and layout in the built environment. However, in China, the specific environment elements that are more comprehensive and more closely linked with urban planning and management need to be studied. Objectives: Relevant research shows that more than 80% of the activities of the elderly are completed within 1 km of the neighborhood. This study takes neighborhood environment as the main research area and research object. The objectives include: 1, to find the status of the elderly’s subject well-being in Shanghai; 2, to find the impact of the neighborhood environmental factors on the subject well-being of the elderly; and therefore, 3, to put forward some suggestions for neighborhood planning to promote the subject well-being of the elderly. Methods: Based on the data of the Fourth Survey on the Living Conditions of the Elderly in Urban and Rural Areas of China, 3431 urban residential samples in Shanghai were selected and analyzed in this study. The subject well-being comes from the question, "General speaking, do you feel happy?" Options include five levels, ranging from very happy to very unhappy. According to the existing literature and the specific requirements of Shanghai urban planning compilation and management, the environmental factors are summarized as 20 indicators in four aspects: natural environment, housing conditions, urban form and facility environment. According to the sample address, the environmental factors indicators are calculated in GIS. The data are analyzed by the method of path analysis in Mplus7.4. Results: 70.9% of the respondents felt very happy or happy, while only 2.2% of the respondents said they were unhappy or very unhappy. Non-agricultural household registration, higher education, better self-rated economic status of the elderly, the better of the subject well-being of the elderly. Under the control of the basic characteristics and socio-economic attributes of the elderly, the per capita green space area, housing construction area, road network density and location conditions have a significant impact on the well-being of the elderly. Conclusion: Under the control of socio-economic variables, community environment can significantly affect the subjective well-being of the elderly. In the planning of community life circle, improving the level of green space per capita in the community, improving the housing conditions of the elderly, and building a high-density road network system are effective measures to promote the subject well-being of the elderly.