An age-friendly precinct is one that encourages and supports active ageing by “adapting its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities” (World Health Organization, 2007). However, there has been minimal translation of age-friendly principles into practical design solutions.
Within the City of Tee Tree Gulley (CTTG), a precinct-sized space in Modbury was identified. It contains two large land parcels owned by ECH for the development of housing and services for older residents, linked by a Council reserve and adjacent to the O-Bahn interchange, Modbury Hospital, GP Plus Super Clinic, Westfield Tea Tree Plaza and a range of other facilities and services.
Students participating in the project developed a framework for the design of age friendly precincts. In doing so, they:
- Learnt about and undertook community engagement activities that engaged older residents in the area in the design of age-friendly communities and design spaces that specifically respond to older people’s needs and priorities
- Drew on the research already undertaken in stage one of the project to establish a framework for the design of age friendly communities
- Produced a suite of design solutions for age-friendly infrastructure, transport, public spaces, and social programs that can be applied and tested in the Modbury Precinct and in other places in South Australia.
Project leadership: Dr Jane Andrew; Aaron Davis PhD candidate, (architecture); Anna Leditschke PhD candidate (planning).
Academic mentors: Dr Damian Madigan; Professor Ian Gwilt; Dr Sean Pickersgill; Dr Matthew Rofe; Dr Johannes Pieters.
