Listen to the Elders: Design Guidelines for Affordable Multifamily Housing for the Elderly Based on Their Experiences

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing demand for affordable multifamily housing for a rapidly growing population of ethnic elders. Using the lived experiences of Korean American elders currently residing in affordable housing in the Midwest as one such example, this study seeks to develop design guidelines to meet the specific living needs and desires of this aging population. Verified against well-established building standards and accepted guidelines, these design recommendations lay the groundwork for multifamily housing that will assist elders to age in place in safer, healthier and happier environments.

KEYWORDS:

• Multifamily housing
• affordable housing
• residential experience
• design guidelines
• aging

Acknowledgments

I thank Paul S. Yun, executive director, and Irene Jisun Sohn, deputy executive director, of the Hanul Family Alliance, Inchul Choi, executive director of the Korean American Community Service, and Kyung jin Bae, coordinator of Moo Goong Terrace apartments for their support during the recruiting process. My deep gratitude goes out to the study participants who wholeheartedly shared their life stories. In addition, I thank Myung-hee Jorn, who assisted during the fieldwork, Amy Duwell Brockdorf, who provided constructive feedback on design guidelines section, and Andrea Plassman and Mary Mead for their meticulous review of the article.

Notes

¹ This trend is due mainly to their population growth pattern: the number of adults aged 65 years or older in the general population will nearly double by 2050 but those of color will triple during the same period (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014).

² According to the report, one-third of older adults faced cost burdens in 2015, including 54% of renters and 43% of homeowners with mortgages on their homes (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2017, p. 32)

³ The largest share of this age group who recently moved chose to live in such housing (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2016).

⁴ There were two housing complexes where more than 95% of residents were ethnic Koreans. Several other housing complexes loosely grouped each ethnic group and placed them separately, for example, by floors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Faculty summer research funding), The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Fall Research Competition).