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Ageing Society: the Case of Kobe

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Ageing Society: the Case of Kobe UNU-IAS Working Paper No. 111 Housing and Healthy Community Living for Urban Ageing Society: Case of Kobe Junko Otani February 2004 Abstract Background In the course of the reconstruction after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, 400,000 households in Kobe lost their housings and experienced the repeated relocations of different types of housings. It can be said that Kobe has been conducting a massive experiment. At the post-Earthquake public housing scheme communities, 40-60 percent of the residents are aged over 65 and more than half of them are „living alone‟. This is an increasingly important population in ageing societies. Objectives This paper addresses housing and urban community care development with ageing populations seeking healthy living, and sensitises policy makers to what can be at issue, by filling in the gaps among different measures by different actors. Methodology Multiple-methods for Case studies including ethnography and secondary data analysis of public health survey by different types of housing schemes. Discussion Whilst community care development is seen as a key for healthy living by most identified actors, different actors use different measures for success and setting priorities. The gaps need to be carefully identified and considered. The coordination between the public administration and local communities is the key to develop the successful community care system. What makes a difference in the process will be discussed: community dynamics, key person, volunteers, housing and other infrastructure. Keywords Ageing, Health, Housing, Community Care, Urbanisation, Gender, QSR Nudist Vivo 1. Introduction This paper addresses two global trends in social change occurring concurrently: urbanisation and population ageing, from the housing point of view by making a comparison between two dwellings built following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe, Japan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that housing is the single most important environmental factor associated with health. This study focuses on healthy community living and housing for older men and women with no or non-functioning family to support their daily living in the traditional way. They are increasingly important groups in the current social changes. It can be said that Kobe city has been conducting a massive experiment in consequence of the disaster. This project seeks to broaden our understanding of the significance of housing in relation to old people‟s health in an urban setting. Section 4-(1) introduces Housing types: temporary shelter housing. Collective home. Special care for older people. Public reconstruction housing. High-rise. Silver housing. Then discuss how different actors such as residents, public administrators perceive the housing; Its impact on community care development process and health perceptions; Household structure and family relationships; Peer relationships. The analysis is not limited to housing type (e.g., one floor tenement or high rise) but also includes living arrangements and environment; The size of the area; Community; Location; Ease of access by volunteers and ability to gain the attention of public officials. Also, Impact of media (e.g., as an information source. e.g., the language of people who watch the TV programme.) 1 By looking at the highly age biased community of Kasetsu (temporary shelter housing: TSH) created after the Kobe Earthquake and the following stage of Fukkou Jutaku (public reconstruction housing: PRH), this research will follow the Earthquake. The 1999 earthquakes in Turkey in August and in Taiwan in September emphasis the importance of the research and the need to generalise to other disaster. Public experiment as such can be done only in times of emergency such as natural disasters. The general aim of this paper is to seek deeper understanding in order to identify a culturally sensitive strategies to meet the needs of ageing populations and to develop an approach that would sensitise health and welfare system policy makers to what can be at issue when a large-scale unpredicted crisis occurs in a society with rapidly ageing populations. This topic is investigated by taking the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan as a case study. The project will map the complexity of the experiences of old people following the Hanshin Earthquake, and explore the areas where the welfare system does not match the needs of old people, and is not adapted to deal with future trends to a society where a high proportion of older people have no or non-functioning families1. 2. Background Background section focuses on four issues: urbanisation; population ageing in Japan; housing for ageing populations; and the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. The population ageing will be discussed in the following aspects: Demographic change, Economic changes, and Family changes. 1 Campbell and Ingersoll-Dayton argues that the term, “family”, in discussing care for older people refers differently in different cultural settings with different concepts. Japaneses often mean children whereas Americans often mean spouses. [Campbell, 2000 #1] 2 ( 1 ) Urbanisation Once people moved to urban cities, they seldom move to rural areas. As a result, city-dwellers will have more old people living in a place like high-rise apartments. Urbanisation is one thing. In these urban apartments, space is not available for extended families. Or urban life has not required much of co-habitance of families over multi-generations. Family role changes. That will change local government roles and community care needs. This social change shares experiences with other countries, especially other Asian countries. This social change will have impacts on the housing needs for different kinds of schemes. This paper will examine the meaning of different kinds of housing schemes to old people using the Case of Kobe. ( 2 ) Population Ageing in Japan Japan has a rapidly ageing population and the population ageing is occurring together with economic stagnation. The 1997 census announced that the number over 65 year-old surplus the number below 15 [Asahi, 1998 #3] Mar. 28. The issues related to its ageing population started to receive a increasingly great amount of attentions from the government and the public since 1970s [Campbell, 1992 #2]. The policies and programmes towards the elderly have been started. But still a lot more need to tackle. This section will introduce demographic change, economic trends and related social changes critical to the well-being of older people. Demographic Change Japan has the most rapidly ageing population in the world. Ageing started later than other developed countries but has been faster. Life expectancy has improved from 50 years in 1945 to the world longest of 81 years [Bentelspacher, 1994 #4]. Mortality has dropped for all ages. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has fallen particularly quickly. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has also dropped from 3.6 in 1950 to 1.4 in 1995, far below the replacement level of 2.1 3 [Soumucho, 1997 #5]. The proportion of those over aged 65 was 7 percent in 1970 and became 14 percent in 1995. It took Japan only 25 years to experience this demographic change whereas it took France 125 years [Soumucho, 1997 #5]. The proportion aged over 75 is increasing even more rapidly. And it is projected that the similar rapid population ageing is to occur in other Asian countries such as China, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka. Table 1: Population Trends and Projections for Four Age Groups (Thousands of People) 0-14 15-64 Age 65 Age 75 Total Avera years years and over and over ge age 1970 25,153(24.0%) 72,119(68.9%) 7,393 (7.1%) 2,237 (2.1%) 104,665(100%) 30.3 1995 22,387(17.5%) 87,168(68.3%) 18,009(14.1%) 6,986 (5.5%) 127,565(100%) 38.8 2000 23,591(18.0%) 86,263(65.8%) 21,338(16.3%) 8,452 (6.4%) 131,192(100%) 39.8 2025 22,075(16.4%) 81,102(60.2%) 31,465(23.4%) 17,367(12.9%) 134,642(100%) 43.3 Note: Figures are as of October 1 for each year Sources: Up to 1985: “National Census,” “Population Estimates” Statistics Bureau, Management and Coordination Agency. From 1990: Future Population Estimates for Japan, Institute for Population, Problems, Koseisho. Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kosei Hakusho (White Paper on Health and Welfare). Kosei Tokei Kyokai, 1989 [Bentelspacher, 1994 #4] [Kinoshita, 1992 #6]. Japan was the first non-Western country to industrialise and to experience rapid population ageing. Therefore, Japan‟s experience will be unique, compared to other Western industrialised countries with ageing populations, in how this major demographic transition might affect the social, cultural, and political institutions of a non-Western society. Japan has not been an exception to the global trend of rapid urbanisation. The proportion of those who live in cities increased from 28 percent in 1945 to 77 percent in 1985 [Sonoda, 1988 #7]. This phenomenon has various implications for the family structure, living arrangements, occupations, and, therefore, social security. The houses a migrant to urban obtains tends to be 4 smaller and is unlikely appropriate for multi-generational households. Occupation engage in urban cities is not the same as occupation in rural areas. This changes the form of household income. Age distribution of migrants are not even and creates a population of unevenly distributed age-groups. Asian family values influenced by Confucianism are said to be disappearing due to the modernisation and Westernisation in line with urbanisation. Economic Trends Japan is in the throes of a ten-year recession: the longest and most severe recession in its post-war economic history. The common Japanese practice of full employment for life as become difficult to sustain and early retirement has already been a trend for more than a decade. The number of unemployed and that of homeless people are increasing.
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