Entering the 21st century, China has become one of the few countries in the world where population aging and rapid urban expansion are occurring simultaneously, while the phenomenon of "getting old before getting rich" has emerged among the elderly due to the uneven social structure and economic development. The social problems caused by aging are directly or indirectly affecting the quality of life of the seniors.
Because of the decline in the seniors’ physical functions and reduced range of activities, the internal and external environment, community environment and facilities become the core elements of the residential environment for the seniors. Some studies have shown that the residential environment directly affects the quality of life of the seniors. The residential environment is not only the primary factor for the seniors to improve their quality of life and meet their spiritual needs, but also serves as a medium to connect the seniors with the society.
In the face of rapid urban expansion, some seniors have been able to adapt well to the changes, while others have become socially disadvantaged encountering both material and spiritual difficulties. Therefore, the researcher believes that it is necessary to have an in-depth study of the different characteristics of senior groups, that is, to conduct a study on the existing seniors who are more traditionally inclined and the new seniors who are less fearful of new things and positive about life, respectively.
Therefore, this study examines the differences and commonalities in the design attitudes of new and existing seniors towards residential environments, as well as the relationship between implicit-explicit attitudes, and the relationship between the design attitudes of new seniors, existing seniors and the general population.
In this study, Generation Theory, Generation Units, Model of Dual Attitudes, and ABC Theory of Attitude were examined to determine the theoretical basis in the study, and the definitions and relationships of implicit-explicit attitudes, design preferences, and design evaluations were also clarified.
In the prior research, a definition of new-existing seniors was made through literature review, and the group characteristics of new-existing seniors were clarified. Based on the group characteristics of new-existing seniors, the Questionnaire for Distinguishing New-existing seniors was developed through two expert interviews and three questionnaire surveys, with the determination of the distinguishing criteria. The elements of distinguishing new-existing seniors were defined as independent living element, wealth consumption element, and exploration and discovery element.
The stimulus images of the residential experiment were first extracted to identify the experimental stimuli. And cluster analysis was conducted by the spss software, and then the final samples of stimulus images for the residential experiment were determined after the consultation with the experts and the questionnaire survey.
At the same time, the outdoor behavior of the seniors was investigated, and the street furniture was classified according to the survey data. Bus stops, benches and garbage cans were identified as the stimuli according to the degree of relevance and importance in daily life. Then the stimulus images of the street furniture experiment were extracted and clustering analysis was performed by spss, and the final stimulus image samples of the street furniture experiment were determined after the consultation with the experts and the questionnaire survey. Finally, the stimulus images of residential and street furniture were named as classical style, neoclassical style, and modernism style respectively according to their design characteristics.
In order to determine the benchmark for design evaluation, the design elements of residential and street furniture were extracted for the first time by literature analysis method and the second time by expert interview and questionnaire survey. Then factor analysis was conducted with the spss software. The superordinate elements of residential design were finally determined as emotional elements, explicit elements and morphological elements. The superordinate elements of street furniture design were cultural elements, basic elements, environmental elements and functional elements.
In order to investigate the commonalities and differences of the design attitudes of new-existing seniors towards residential environment, the relationship between new-existing seniors'' design implicit-explicit attitudes, the relationship between the design attitudes of the three groups of general population, new seniors and existing seniors, the researcher conducted two experiments on residential and street furniture in 11 cities of small, medium and large sizes in southern, central and northern China based on the benchmark of "Chinese urban resident population". The data were compiled and analyzed with the spss software.
Through the empirical study, the researcher presented the conclusions according to the differences, commonalities, the relationship between design implicit-explicit attitudes, and the relationship between the design attitudes of new-existing seniors and the general population.
This research is on the design attitude of the elderly, which belongs to the basic level of the elderly design. Therefore, it has a theoretical guiding role in all design fields. It provides a theoretical basis for the elderly in the design and development, design research, and design iteration stages. At the same time, it provides a theoretical basis for the society to re recognize the elderly group. It also provides a decision-making basis for the government to make policies on the improvement of the living environment quality of the elderly. Meanwhile, it provides a theoretical basis for market development, product development and commercial marketing of enterprises related to the elderly.
In the background of the aging society, in order to meet the material and spiritual needs of the elderly and improve the quality of their living environment, This research puts forward proposals in four aspects: academic, social, economic and cultural. It also provides suggestions for the government, the elderly industry, the design industry, the elderly related enterprises and researchers.
At the same time, it also clarifies the shortcomings and limitations of the research, and points out the direction of future research on the design attitude of the new and traditional elderly people''s living environment.
This study examines the relationship between the design attitude towards residential environments of new seniors and existing seniors. By examining the differences and commonalities in the design attitudes toward residential and street furniture, the relationship between implicit-explicit attitudes, and the relationship among the design attitudes of three groups of general population, new seniors and existing seniors, the changing patterns of design attitudes toward residential environments are identified, and suggestions are made for the development and improvement of the residential environment design for the seniors. This study provides a theoretical basis for the related design and development for new and existing seniors, and broadens the ideas of related research.