The demographic statistics of South Korea show that it is urgent to prepare for an aging society to come. To cope with the issue of aging, advanced countries have prepared guidelines for various welfare policies based on their experiences as well as i...
The demographic statistics of South Korea show that it is urgent to prepare for an aging society to come. To cope with the issue of aging, advanced countries have prepared guidelines for various welfare policies based on their experiences as well as implementing guidelines for allocating and designing the aged welfare facilities. Compared with advanced countries, however, Korea has yet to improve its policies and institutions. In particular, it is urgent to prepare specific guidelines for welfare facilities for the elderly since they are still in the inception stage. This study was initiated from the perception that a sufficient review of guidelines has not been made for allocating the aged welfare facilities, despite the urgent necessity of dealing with an aging society. To prepare planning guidelines for the allocation of the aged welfare facilities so that this issue can be addressed in a proactive way, this study examined the institutions and construction cases of the aged welfare facilities at home and abroad. The study then reclassified the 16 types of the aged welfare facilities currently defined in the Aged Welfare Act by classifying them into groups of similar facilities from the aspects of function and purpose of use. This study aims to turn the allocation guidelines that should be considered into a theory and use its findings as basic materials in formulating planning guidelines for the aged welfare facilities. Towards this end, the trends of preceding studies were examined; theoretic and institutional reviews were made of domestic and overseas welfare policies for the elderly; and construction cases of the aged welfare facilities were analyzed. To devise planning guidelines for the aged welfare facilities allocable to new towns, types of facilities were redefined. Based on this literature study and using the Delphi technique and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), questionnaire surveys of experts were conducted to develop a model for the location analysis of the aged welfare facilities and to establish planning guidelines for their allocation. Anseong New Town district, which is currently under planning, was selected for development of analysis indicators and then a location analysis was conducted by using the analysis indicators and the model for the simulation technique and the optimization technique based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Based on this analysis, planning proposal for the aged welfare facilities were formulated. Then, to review the feasibility of the proposal, the allocation indicators and the proposal were evaluated through in-depth interviews with corresponding experts. From the results of this study, suggestions are made as follows: First, welfare facilities for the elderly should be reclassified from the existing 5 types and 16 facilities to 2 types and 6 facilities: the aged welfare housing facilities, including the aged residences, rental houses, and nursing homes & facilities for the elderly; and the aged welfare support facilities, including welfare centers, clinics, and service facilities for the elderly. Second, opinions collected from corresponding experts show that plans for the aged welfare facilities should be formulated when developing new towns. Also, evaluation indicators are proposed as follows: the appropriate proportion of the aged welfare housing facilities is about 10 percent of the total housing facilities; the reasonable ratio of the aged residences (senior residences and rental houses) to nursing homes & facilities, 8 to 2; and the ratio of senior residences to rental houses, 6 to 4. Third, evaluation indicators for the allocation of the aged welfare facilities are developed and based on AHP, weights are assigned to each indicator as follows: 0.176 to streams, 0.135 to apartment buildings, 0.132 to single detached houses, 0.125 to plazas and roads for pedestrians, 0.123 to roads and parking lots, 0.107 to religious facilities, 0.098 to neighbourhood unit living facilities, 0.0513 to public facilities, and 0.051 to parks and green spaces. Fourth, the assessment indicators resulting from the application of the optimization technique were turned into a theory and used to propose a new model for planning the aged welfare facilities. These findings will be used as basic materials for planning guidelines when allocating the aged welfare facilities in new towns. The ratios or weights suggested from the questionnaire surveys have limited applicability as they are. At a time when planning guidelines are not being properly prepared for the aged welfare facilities, this study gathered opinions from corresponding experts and thus its findings are expected to be used as basic data for planning the aged welfare facilities. Yet, further studies and policy reviews about ways to supply these facilities are needed in order to expand the aged welfare facilities and promote active use of the facilities by the low income aged.