C245etukansi.fm Page 1 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 11:19 AM C 245 OULU 2006 C 245 UNIVERSITY OF OULU P.O. Box 7500 FI-90014 UNIVERSITY OF OULU FINLAND ACTA UNIVERSITATIS OULUENSIS ACTA UNIVERSITATIS OULUENSIS ACTA C SERIES EDITORS Özlem Özer-Kemppainen TECHNICA ÖzlemÖzer-Kemppainen ASCIENTIAE RERUM NATURALIUM Professor Mikko Siponen ALTERNATIVE HOUSING BHUMANIORA ENVIRONMENTS Professor Harri Mantila FOR THE ELDERLY IN CTECHNICA Professor Juha Kostamovaara THE INFORMATION SOCIETY DMEDICA Professor Olli Vuolteenaho THE FINNISH EXPERIENCE ESCIENTIAE RERUM SOCIALIUM Senior assistant Timo Latomaa FSCRIPTA ACADEMICA Communications Officer Elna Stjerna GOECONOMICA Senior Lecturer Seppo Eriksson EDITOR IN CHIEF Professor Olli Vuolteenaho EDITORIAL SECRETARY Publication Editor Kirsti Nurkkala FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF OULU ISBN 951-42-8081-4 (Paperback) ISBN 951-42-8082-2 (PDF) ISSN 0355-3213 (Print) ISSN 1796-2226 (Online) ACTA UNIVERSITATIS OULUENSIS C Technica 245 ÖZLEM ÖZER-KEMPPAINEN ALTERNATIVE HOUSING ENVIRONMENTS FOR THE ELDERLY IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY The Finnish experience Academic Dissertation to be presented with the assent of the Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, for public discussion in the Department of Architecture, Apaja Auditorium (Aleksanterinkatu 4 – 6), on June 9th, 2006, at 12 noon OULUN YLIOPISTO, OULU 2006 Copyright © 2006 Acta Univ. Oul. C 245, 2006 Supervised by Professor Kaisa Broner-Bauer Reviewed by Professor Jyrki Jyrkämä Docent Heikki Kukkonen ISBN 951-42-8081-4 (Paperback) ISBN 951-42-8082-2 (PDF) http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514280822/ ISSN 0355-3213 (Printed ) ISSN 1796-2226 (Online) http://herkules.oulu.fi/issn03553213/ Cover design Raimo Ahonen OULU UNIVERSITY PRESS OULU 2006 Özer-Kemppainen, Özlem, Alternative housing environments for the elderly in the information society. The Finnish experience Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, P.O.Box 4000, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland, Department of Architecture, University of Oulu, P.O.Box 4100, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland Acta Univ. Oul. C 245, 2006 Oulu, Finland Abstract The living circumstances of the elderly are closely related to the social changes in society. The aim of this research is to firstly, identify the impact of social changes on the spatial organization of dwellings and housing from the perspective of the elderly within the framework of social ageing, and secondly to examine the reasons for relocation of the elderly to sheltered housing. Using this data, some recommendations are made about a suitable barrier-free housing model for the elderly based on traditional Finnish rural housing. In addition to the need for barrier-free design criteria in the design process of future dwellings, understanding the social and psychological aspects of the traditional housing of the northern outreach can provide a new perspective for developing and modifying current living environments of the network society. Dwelling architecture already contains a versatile spatial order and a productive identity to constitute different levels of social order and integration. Applied in the network society, the traditional Finnish housing feature known as “tupa” has the capability of exceeding the physical boundaries of home to integrate the service possibilities of the cyberworld. This “tupa” model, both on the dwelling unit level and on the housing level, is not only suitable for the lifestyle of the network society, but also for the elderly who are gradually growing fragile. The “tupa” model functions as a suitable space for the elderly; firstly, as a place to grow old as productive members of the society after retirement and, secondly, as a place to function as active members fostered by the housing community and by the facilities of the network society. “Theme housing” model which is a reinterpretation of the principles of Finnish rural housing, provides a model which can both facilitate social interaction, and the productivity of different generations, while avoiding isolation and social exclusion in the network society. Keywords: barrier-free design, housing for the aged, spatial organization and dwelling, theme housing to my family and my parents Preface My interest in housing for the elderly goes back to the late 1980s when I did my M.Sc. on housing for the elderly in the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, during which I had the opportunity to visit Finland with a scholarship from the Finnish state to get acquainted with the Finnish solutions for housing for the elderly. Almost 10 years after this event, when I considered post-graduate studies at the Department of Architecture in Oulu University, I was strongly supported by my supervisor Professor Kaisa Broner- Bauer to continue on the subject and explore it from the perspective of today’s society. I would like to thank Professor Kaisa Broner-Bauer both for her supervision and support for completion of this research. I am also grateful for Professor Timo Järvikoski from Oulu University who supervised my secondary studies in sociology. I would like to express my deep appreciation to the reviewers of my thesis Professor Jyrki Jyrkämä and Docent Heikki Kukkonen for their valued expertise and comments, which helped me clarify my aims. Thanks to Senior Assistant Kalle Reinikainen from Oulu University for his answers to my questions about data processing. This doctoral thesis has been financially supported by a number of institutions, first by the National Graduate School of Architecture financed by Finnish Academy and Ministry of Education and later by the Tauno Tönnink Foundation, the University of Oulu, the Northern Environmental Research Network (NorNet), the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Finnish Housing Fair Co-operative Organisation and by Yliopiston Apteekki. Without the support of these entitities it would have been impossible to complete the thesis. The multidisciplinary research project ‘Future Senior Housing’ financed by the National Technology Agency of Finland (TEKES) where I took part in a one year research project in 2004 has also played a role in the results of my doctoral thesis. I appreciate the supportive comments of the researchers and professors in the ‘Future Senior Housing’ project. I would also like to thank the management of the Elderly Care Services of the cities of Oulu and Helsinki for their help in making the interviews possible, and the staff of the sheltered housing where the interviews were conducted, as well as the home care personnel of the City of Oulu and the management of Caritas Village. I am also very grateful to all the interviewees who participated in this research. During this work, I have been encouraged by my parents, Semiha and Ahmet H. Özer, who have been the closest examples of the subject of my research field, and also the best representatives of the contemporary elderly in the information age. I owe my deepest gratitude to my husband Pasi who has been my most important and kindest ally. His much appreciated support of my research work has helped me to continue through the difficulties. I am so grateful to my dear daughter Deniz for her patience for the times I have spent with my work instead of her. Oulu, 18th April 2006, Özlem Özer-Kemppainen List of tables Table 1. The number of dwellings in Finland in 2003. ................................................ 92 Table 2. Interviewees’ length of habitation in sheltered housing in Helsinki and Oulu. ....................................................................................................... 99 Table 3. The distribution of age groups in sheltered housings in Oulu and Helsinki. ........................................................................................................ 99 Table 4. Length of stay in sheltered housing and feeling at home. ............................ 101 Table 5. Housing satisfaction and feeling at home. ................................................... 103 Table 6. Crosstabulation of feeling at home and home as the essence of life. ........... 105 Table 7. The proportion of the interviewees who longed for their former homes. ......................................................................................................... 106 Table 8. The proportion of the interviewees who would have stayed in their former homes. .............................................................................................. 106 Table 9. Home ownership and longing for the former house. ................................... 107 Table 10. The health condition of the interviewees. .................................................... 108 Table 11. The use of the services in sheltered housing. ............................................... 109 Table 12. Significance of relatives for the elderly in Helsinki and Oulu. .................... 110 Table 13. The frequency of meeting the neighbours in Oulu and Helsinki. ................ 110 Table 14. Participation of the inhabitants in the happenings of the sheltered house. ........................................................................................................... 111 Table 15. Did you feel unsafe and insecure in your former apartment? ...................... 115 Table 16. Do you feel safe and secure in the sheltered housing? ................................ 115 Table 17. Relation between feeling of being at home and safety & security. .............. 117 Table 18. The feeling of loneliness and feeling of being at home. .............................. 118 Table 19.