Possibilities for change toward universal design: Japanese housing policy for seniors at the crossroads.
Japanese government policies for seniors have long assumed that informal care by their families exists for them. The rapid aging of Japan is eroding the basis for this assumption. It is now necessary to include barrier-free design concepts in the basic requirements for dwellings to be used by everyone, not just seniors, to support independent living. Essential requirements in proposed guidelines are already in effect in the design and construction of publicly operated rental housing. But at this time, only the schemes of the Housing Loan Corporation of Japan for additional loans are being used, in cases where some design requirements for senior users are being met. The Housing Loan Corporation's loan system has long been seen as a policy on the part of government to boost the economy, particularly during recessions, but assistance for construction of higher quality dwellings has been lacking. This article discusses the basic philosophy of design guidelines and practical ideas to be considered in dwelling design and the merit of model dwellings constructed by housing manufacturers in Japan. It also discusses potential strategies to implement the basic ideas of design guidelines. It then proposes some possible methods to realize life-span dwellings, or dwellings designed for everybody.
Kose
S
S
Building Research Institute, Tatehara, Tsukuba, Japan.
D000368:Aged; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D016852:Housing for the Elderly / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011640:Public Policy