COMMENTARY

Elderly-Friendly Housing

As its aged population increases and the size of households falls, the proportion of elderly-only households in Hong Kong will increase significantly from 12.9 per cent in 2011 to 20.4 per cent in 2024. Hong Kong has an elderly institutionalisation rate much higher than those of many Asian and Western countries, despite the fact that 85 per cent of persons aged 50 and above have considered ageing at home. There is imminent need for elderly-friendly housing.

According to the World Health Organisation,age-friendly cities have eight particular features: housing, transportation, outdoor space and buildings, community and health services, communication and information, civic participation and employment, respect and social inclusion, as well as social participation.

“Hong Kong lags behind some of the developed countries in the world in this respect,” says Sr Marco Wu, Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) and Past President of the HKIS. “In Singapore, there is a Minister for Health and Minister-in-charge of Ageing Issues who looks after elderly-related matters encompassing all features of age-friendly cities. In Hong Kong, however, there is no such a Bureau Director nor is there an integrated, elderly-specific housing and healthcare policy. We think elderly initiatives need totality rather than compartmentalisation with its attendant silo effect.”  

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