Evaluation of the Indicators of a Favorable Elderly City (Case Study: Tabriz City)

Document Type : Research article

Author

Associate Professor of Geographical Research, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction   
In order to overcome many problems faced by the elderlies in urban areas, the United Nations presented the elderly friendly cities. The elderly friendly cities are based on the WHO standards in eight urban open spaces, inland urban transport systems, buildings and public and religious sites, safety and ease of use, social participation and communication, social respect, cultural-recreational, and health-care. Each of these indicators will play an important and effective role in creating an elderly friendly city (WHO, 2007). Iran today is one of the very young countries in the world and more than 50% of its population is the people under twenty years of age. Population control policies and promotion of nutritional and health quality increased life expectancy. Thus, it is natural that in the next fifty years, it would contain one of the highest proportions of the elderly population in the world. According to the census of 2016, more than 6 million people (8.2%) of Iran population would be 60 years old (Iran Statistics Center, 2016). Tabriz City has also many elderlies like other cities in Iran. About 91.81% of the citizens of Tabriz city out of the total population of 1494998 people would be old people.  
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), elderly friendly cities are among those urban areas where the distribution of public services is in such a way that they are fit to the needs and limitations of the elderly as possible.   According to this definition, it is important to provide transportation services, administrative affairs, telecommunication networks and media communications, construction of premises and urban architectural design, cultural and health services. In such cities, attention is paid to the needs of the elderly as a necessity in cultural indicators and interpersonal interactions (WHO, 2007). These indicators are including urban open spaces, public buildings and public spaces, transportation, safety and ease of use, social resilience, participation and social relations, health,  culture and recreation (WHO, 2007: 69).  
The elderly city of active aging supports maximizing the health, social and healthcare of the old people. The World Health Organization's World Guide for the Elderly Cities was published by the World Health Organization on the World Elderly Day of October 2007. This guide is set up through an study of 35 cities of the world by counseling the elderlies, managers and specialists in the elderly with the identification of important physical and social barriers to active aging. The Elderly Society is beneficial for all age groups. The safe environment for the elderly is undoubtedly safe for other segments of society as well. Buildings and unobstructed streets increase the mobility and independence of the elderly, thus helping the whole society to benefit from its partnership in both fortune and nonprofit as well as civil activities.
Methodology
This is an applied descriptive-analytical research in methodology. The data have been collected via documentary and survey. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The statistical population includes all people more than 60 years old based on the census of population and housing in 2016 in the districts 1 and 10 of Tabriz Municipality. Using Cochran formula, the sample size was 138 for district 1 and 138 for district 10, respectively. Then, questionnaires were distributed among the districts 1 and 10 of Tabriz municipality. Statistical analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used in data analysis. In this regard, the empirical findings of this study indicate that there is no significant difference between respondents in terms of gender and marital status and housing; but, there is relationship between the characteristics of the residential area (region 1 and 10 of Tabriz) and urban open-air indices with a t-value of -3.408 and a significant level of 0.001..
Results and discussion
The results of this study indicated that there is a significant difference between the characteristics of the residential area (District 1 and 10 of Tabriz) and the desirable city indicators of the elderly. However, the results of measuring the significance of the difference in mean values of the indicators by the level of education and income showed that there is no significant difference between any of the studied indicators. However, in the field of daily activities, the conditions were slightly different, and we found difference between the average urban outdoor indicators and communication. Similarly, there is a significant positive relationship between all the indicators of the desirable city of the elderly in the alpha level of 0.05. The amount of communication and information impact on urban transport is equal to 0.55, the amount of urban open space impact on Inner city transportation is equal to 0.37, and the impact of civil participation on intra-urban transport is equal to 0.11.
Conclusion  
For an improved management of urban areas, it is essential to consider the needs, behavioral patterns and preferences of the elderly people in the design and refurbishment of urban public spaces such as streets, squares, parks, and etc. The urban furniture of this space can provide the basis for participation, presence and establishment of the social interactions of the elderlies. These spaces provide effective physical and spiritual well-being of the elderlies and the achievement of successful aging goals; therefore, urban elderly preferences should be considered in the design of urban spaces.

Keywords

References

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 7, Issue 1
April 2019
Pages 61-81

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