The “Hothouse Community” and Its Implications for Older Age Residents

ABSTRACT

Applying a qualitative methodology, this research suggested that Master Planned Community (MPC) developments play a core role, as a place, in creating opportunities to establish social ties for older people, whereas social life in conventional suburbs is interest-based. The research found that safety and community in MPCs were initially delivered as pre-fabricated commodities, as a result of the exclusive infrastructure embedded within the developments. Commodification of social life, in particular, inscribed degrees of feelings of separation in the physical and social landscapes of the study areas, which was a key research finding that informs future master planning policies and practices.

摘要本研究采用定性的研究方法，提出总体规划社区(MPC)发展作为一个地方，在创造机会为老年人建立社会联系方面起着核心作用，而传统郊区的社会生活是基于兴趣的. 研究发现，总体规划社区的安全和社区最初是作为预制商品交付的，这是开发项目中嵌入的专用基础设施的结果. 特别是社会生活的商品化，在研究区域的物理和社会景观中记录了分离感的程度，这是一个关键的研究发现，为未来的总体规划政策和实践提供了信息.

KEYWORDS:

• Neighbourhood
• master planned community development
• safety
• social life
• older people

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The SA2 is a geographic unit defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). It represents a community of an average of 10,000 people that interact together both economically and socially (ABS 2011c).

2. SA1 s are the second smallest geographic unit defined in ASGS. They are built from whole MBs, and have an average population of about 400 people (ABS 2011c).

3. To conduct the interviews, ethics approval was granted by the Griffith University Ethics Committee (Reference no: ENV/42/14/HREC).