PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Age-Friendly Approach Is a Necessary Condition to Prevent Depopulation: The Age-Friendliness Evaluation of Japanese Municipalities by Resident Architectural Designers and Constructors
Yamada, K.; Murotani, K.; Mano, M.; Lim, Y.; Yoshimatsu, J. Age-Friendly Approach Is Necessary to Prevent Depopulation: Resident Architectural Designers and Constructors’ Evaluation of the Age-Friendliness of Japanese Municipalities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6626.
Yamada, K.; Murotani, K.; Mano, M.; Lim, Y.; Yoshimatsu, J. Age-Friendly Approach Is Necessary to Prevent Depopulation: Resident Architectural Designers and Constructors’ Evaluation of the Age-Friendliness of Japanese Municipalities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6626.
Yamada, K.; Murotani, K.; Mano, M.; Lim, Y.; Yoshimatsu, J. Age-Friendly Approach Is Necessary to Prevent Depopulation: Resident Architectural Designers and Constructors’ Evaluation of the Age-Friendliness of Japanese Municipalities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6626.
Yamada, K.; Murotani, K.; Mano, M.; Lim, Y.; Yoshimatsu, J. Age-Friendly Approach Is Necessary to Prevent Depopulation: Resident Architectural Designers and Constructors’ Evaluation of the Age-Friendliness of Japanese Municipalities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6626.
Abstract
Japan has the world’s largest old population ratio, and aging is an urgent societal issue. As global trends seem to be following Japan’s social changes, there is an emphasis on municipalities becoming more age-friendly. Hence, we examine the age-friendliness of 135 Japanese municipalities, selecting 240 resident architectural designers and constructors to assess their municipalities, using the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ). The findings indicate that Japan lacks “outdoor spaces and buildings.” Additionally, the evaluation of “housing,” “community support and health services,” and “transportation” in populated municipalities in the past five years is significantly higher than those in depopulated ones. Age-friendliness is significantly affected in the AFCCQ total score (hereafter, Score) based on “housing,” “social participation,” “community support and health services,” “transportation” and “financial situation” evaluations. High specificity (0.939) was found when the Score was treated as a marker of depopulation and, therefore, an age-friendly approach is a necessary condition to prevent depopulation. Furthermore, a lack of “communication and information” is observed in municipalities with a higher rate of single-person households aged 65 years and above. Therefore, resident architectural designers’ and constructors’ assessments, combined with the AFCCQ can be a powerful tool in evaluating the age-friendliness of municipalities.
Keywords
age-friendliness; aging society; rural aging; urban aging; demographic aging; depopulation; land price; single person household; outdoor spaces; Japan
Subject
Social Sciences, Demography
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
