A Study on the Socio-spatial Characteristics of the Elderly and the Influence Factors of ‘Aging in Place’ in Seoul: With a Focus on Elderly-concentrated Areas

Residential choices are closely related to aspects such as the characteristics of households, which are the decision-making units of housing mobility, physical characteristics of housing, and surrounding environments. Under capitalistic mechanisms, choices regarding housing mobility are inevitably affected by satisfaction with the current residential housing and the socioeconomic characteristics of the given population or households including life cycles, educational processes, occupations, number of household members, income, housing characteristics, occupation type, residential level, housing type, surrounding characteristics, and development status of the areas.

The elderly population’s residential choices can be affected in a complex manner by changes stemming from the life cycle, age or health status, marital status, and socioeconomic conditions. Wiseman (1980) has classified senior citizens’ residential mobility into three types: an amenity move, where one moves for a comfortable daily life and convenience after retirement; an environmental push, where one moves for affordable housing or good neighbor relations; and an assistance move to obtain help from those around oneself due to issues such as health. Similarly, Meyer and Speare (1985) have classified the elderly population’s residential mobility into amenity mobility, assistance mobility, and mobility in preparation for aging. Out of them, an amenity move is related to residential mobility, which senior citizens choose voluntarily to raise convenience in their daily lives. This implies that not only individuals’ socioeconomic characteristics but also the possibility of or satisfaction with using the local neighborhood environments and daily convenience facilities can affect the elderly population’s residential choices and, moreover, aging in place.

“Aging in place” signifies senior citizens’ continued, safe, and comfortable residence in places they have lived thus far, or their familiar homes or local communities, regardless of individual income levels or health status. Because the elderly population can secure spatial and social continuity in places that they have lived in and live independently through aging in place, this can ultimately contribute to the raising of senior citizens’ quality of life and these people’s active lives in old age (Seo, Y.J., 2018; and Park, J.Y., 2019).

In order to realize aging in place, senior citizens themselves must wish to continue residence in local communities and be buttressed by diverse support programs and the creation of age-friendly neighborhood environments in local communities. When such conditions are not met, senior citizens will come to feel inconvenience or difficulty in daily life despite the familiarity of the environments and may be reduced in activities in everyday life (Kwon, O.J. and Kim, J.Y., 2019).

In the past, up to the 1960s, major countries’ population aging policies perceived aging as a special social issue or viewed the elderly population as socially vulnerable, aiming at the institutionalization of senior citizens (Joo B.H., et al., 2019). As social perceptions of aging and the elderly began to change, however, the need for aging in place emerged instead of institutionalization, which drastically changed senior citizens’ residential environments and incurred considerable social costs.

The concept of “aging in place” was first mentioned in the Vienna International Plan of Action on Aging adopted at the United Nations’ (UN) 1st World Assembly on Aging held in 1982 (United Nations, 1982; Lee, Y.K., et al., 2017). Though the plan did not directly mention the term “aging in place,” it included contents on aging in place in local communities by stipulating “to enable [the elderly] to lead independent lives in the community for as long as possible” (Recommendation 9) among the basic principles of giving care to senior citizens. In recent years, the discussion has developed “aging in place” and proceeded to include “aging in community,”¹⁾ which stresses local communities.

Amidst such responses, the WHO has pursued the GNAFCC project since 2006 in order to establish international joint responses to the worldwide trends of population aging and urbanization and to support individual cities’ establishment of countermeasures. Membership in the network is based on the level of cities or regions, and, as for South Korea, a total of over 20 local governments including Seoul, which became a member in 2013, have joined as member cities.

Presented in 2007, the age-friendly city guidelines (WHO) proposes the establishment of an age-friendly city action plan based on eight spheres such as “social participation,” “respect and social inclusion,” “civic participation and employment,” “communication and information,” and “community support and health services” including “outdoor spaces and buildings,” “transportation,” and “housing” in terms of the physical environment. These guidelines stress that it is important to create age-friendly residential environments such as neighborhood facilities and public transportation in local communities for senior citizens’ active lives in old age and necessary to raise the elderly population’s quality of life by expanding caregiving services and opportunities for participation in local communities and social and leisure activities.

As for studies analyzing the distribution and characteristics of the elderly population in Seoul proper or the greater Seoul metropolitan area, there are those by Lee, H. Y., et al. (2015), Jeong, J.E. and Jun, M.J. (2013), and Park, S.N. (2019), among others.

Research by Lee, H.Y., et al. (2015) focuses on low-income senior citizens and certifies the distribution of and changes to the low-income elderly population by using 2000-2010 data on the level of census output areas. According to the analysis, low-income senior citizens mainly live in the Gangbuk area (area to the north of the Han River), and areas concentrated with these people increasingly tend to become fixed. These areas can be classified into categories such as areas concentrated with detached houses and multi-household houses on hilly land, housing-concentrated areas around stations in the old city center, and permanent rental apartments according to their physical characteristics.

Jeong, J.E. and Jun, M.J. (2013) have extracted “elderly-concentrated areas,” with the ratio of the elderly population per 2010 census output area in the greater Seoul metropolitan area (41,437) as the standard, grasped the spatial distribution of senior citizens in the greater Seoul metropolitan area, and analyzed the demographic, housing, social (elderly facilities), and locational characteristics of this area. Through this, this study classifies elderly-concentrated areas in the greater Seoul metropolitan area into the two types of areas near the downtown in the Gangbuk area such as Jung-gu in Seoul and rural areas outside the greater metropolitan area. The elderly-concentrated areas extracted in this study are high in the ratios of widowed or divorced households and small-scale aged housing but low in accessibility to leisure and welfare facilities.

Meanwhile, according to a study by Park, S. N. (2019), the characteristics of socioeconomic activities performed by senior citizens in Seoul differ per not only gender, age, and housing type but also residential area. It is possible to confirm that while the elderly population in the three gu (districts) of the Gangnam area (Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu) is higher in the ratio of engagement in social activities than in the ratio of engagement in economic activities, senior citizens in the downtown or the northeast have a relatively lower ratio of engagement in social activities.

When the contents of existing studies on the distribution and characteristics of the elderly population are synthesized, senior citizens in the city display physically and socioeconomically disparate characteristics per area of residence. The area mainly inhabited by the elderly population of Seoul is the Gangbuk area, which can be classified into categories such as low-income residential areas on hilly land, areas adjacent to the downtown, and permanent rental apartment complexes in terms of the physical aspects. The Gangbuk area exhibits the characteristic of a relatively high ratio of both low-income senior citizens and the working elderly population in terms of socioeconomic activities as well, thus forming a contrast with the Gangnam area, where social activities including leisure activities thrive.

According to Wiseman (1980), whether or not the elderly population migrates or does not move is affected by factors promoting or impeding housing mobility and is realized through a complex decision-making process. In order to support senior citizens’ aging in place, it is necessary to grasp comprehensively the influence of physical environments on the local level and satisfaction or inconvenience regarding neighborhood facilities experienced by the elderly population in daily life on these people’s intention to age in place in addition to the elderly population’s socioeconomic aspects. When related earlier studies are examined from this perspective, they are as follows (Table 1).

Table 1.

Factors influencing the elderly population’s intention to Age in Place in prior studies

As for recent research on Seoul’s age-friendly city policy, representative is a study by Baik, S.H., et al. (2019). This study selected two case areas in Seoul and conducted a survey of the residents on their health status, economic status, and social relationships, thus grasping local demands for improvements in the WHO’s eight spheres. According to the results of the analysis, the need for opportunities to participate in local jobs or local activities and for safe pedestrian environments was high. Accordingly, this study argued that, in order to realize aging in place, it was necessary to go beyond existing welfare and health services and to expand the scope of policies to increased jobs for senior citizens and improved physical environments. In addition, considering that everyday physical activities are an indispensable element to healthy old age, the study elucidated the need to grasp senior citizens’ actual movement flows, daily lives, and needs and to improve living environments from local perspectives.

A study by Park, J.Y. (2019) analyzes the relationship between physical safety and the elderly population’s aging in place in five sub-regions of Seoul. The physical safety of urban environments is classified into categories such as outdoor spaces and buildings, pedestrian safety, transportation safety, and housing safety and the current status is grasped per area, and, through a survey of the elderly population of Seoul, the correlation between the degree of the perception of the safety of one’s residential area and the intention to age in place is analyzed. According to the results of the analysis, the intention to age in place harbored by senior citizens in Seoul was 78.6%, thus being high, and overall physical safety including outdoor spaces, building safety, pedestrian safety, transportation safety, and housing safety was confirmed to be stronger in areas where the elderly population had a strong intention to age in place such as the northwest and the southeast.

Kwon, O.J., et al. (2014) have analyzed the reasons for and contents related to senior citizens’ wish to age in place by using the qualitative research method on 17 people (nationwide distribution) aged 60 or above who wished to age in place in their respective areas. According to the results of in-depth interviews, the main reasons for senior citizens’ wish to age in place were investigated to include familiarity stemming from prolonged residence, affection for given areas, housing satisfaction, convenient surrounding living conditions, and human networks. In contrast, certain respondents wished to age in place due to fear of changes to their environments or the lack of the economic means to afford moving costs despite a situation where the current housing conditions were inappropriate for them. Accordingly, the study argues that it is necessary to reduce senior citizens’ psychological and social instability by providing alternative housing or service housing per area and to provide support for aging in place.

As has been examined above, with the development of population aging in South Korea, both quantitative and qualitative studies have been conducted in order to create age-friendly environments or to present the direction of policies for aging in place. In relation to the distribution and characteristics of senior citizens, they grasp the distribution and current status of elderly-concentrated areas through analyses on the level of census output areas or elucidate the physical and sociodemographic characteristics of these areas. As for studies related to the intention to age in place, they grasp relations of influence on physical, individual, and sociopsychological levels, with a focus on the entire nation or case areas.

However, insufficient are studies that examine the socio-spatial characteristics of the elderly population, with the entire Seoul as the object, and verify the effects of such characteristics on senior citizens’ intention to age in place and regional differences in such influence factors. Studies tend to be limited in their contents to physical environments or housing and demographic/household characteristics or limited spatially to particular case areas or samples.

In this study, with a focus on both Seoul and elderly-concentrated areas within the city, factors influencing senior citizens’ aging in place were analyzed to verify factors that were noteworthy in terms of elderly-concentrated areas as opposed to the entire city. The study is differentiated in that, through such tasks, it presents implications for the creation of age-friendly neighborhood environments that take regional characteristics into consideration.

Based on data on the 2018 Survey on the Welfare and Living Conditions of the Elderly in Seoul as the standard,³⁾ the elderly population of the city amounted to a total of 1.38 million, out of whom 55.8% were females and 44.2% were males, with females taking up a relatively larger proportion. As for age groups, 830 thousand constituted the early elderly population aged 65-74, who took up 60% of the total senior citizens living in Seoul. The late elderly population aged 75 or above amounted to 552 thousand, taking up approximately 40% of the total senior citizens in the city. In particular, the northeast (41%) and the northwest (43%) areas were high in the ratio of the late elderly population(Table 2).

Table 2.

Status of the age group and household characteristics of the elderly(Unit: person, %)

As for household types, single-person households amounted to 310 thousand, taking up 22.4% of the total elderly households. Households consisting of senior citizens aged 65 or above amounted to 544 thousand, thus taking up the greatest share (39%), and households where senior citizens lived together with other members such as children took up 38%. The ratio of single-person households was the highest for the downtown, amounting to 28.2%, and the lowest for the southeast, amounting to 19.4%. It was 22.6% and 22.9% for the northeast and the northwest, respectively, thus exhibiting levels similar to that of the average for the entire city. Meanwhile, the ratio of highly educated senior citizens (high school graduates or above) took up 38.3% of the total, and the figures for the northeast (33.3%) and the northwest (38.9%) were similar to or lower than the average for Seoul.

Next, the socioeconomic characteristics of the elderly population of Seoul were grasped. As for the economic aspect, 35.1% of the total respondents replied, “I currently work,” thus showing that one out of three senior citizens continued to engage in economic activities. In addition, the answer “I have worked before but do not work now” took up 49.6% of the total, and the answer “I have never worked all my life” took up 15.3% of the total, respectively. The ratio of senior citizens performing economic activities was 33.7% for the northeast and 33.3% for the northwest, respectively, with the proportion of the elderly population participating in economic activities smaller in comparison with other areas.

Combining earned income, business income, pensions, and property income, the average monthly household income of the elderly population of Seoul amounted to 2.32 million won (Table 3). Households with an average monthly income of 2 million won or below exceeded 60% of the total households so that senior citizens with below-average income took a greater share of the total.⁴⁾ In particular, the ratio of low-income senior citizens (1 million won or below) was considerable, amounting to 30% or above, with a focus on the northeast and the northwest.

Table 3.

Status of average monthly income of elderly(Unit: person, %, ten thousand won)

The elderly population exhibited housing characteristics differentiated from those of other age groups in terms of life cycles. Senior citizens were relatively low in the rate of residence in apartments and high in the rate of residence in detached houses and multi-household houses. As for the elderly population’s housing types, apartments took up 40.7% of the total, followed by detached houses and multi-unit houses (31.9%) and tenement houses and multi-household houses (26.5%), in this order. This differed from data from the 2015 Population and Housing Census: from among the total of 2.793 million units of housing in Seoul, apartments took up the greatest share of 58.6% (1.637 million units), followed by tenement houses and multi-household houses (27.6%; 772 thousand units) and detached houses (12.7%; 355 thousand units), in this order. Out of individual areas, the ratio of detached houses and multi-unit houses was relatively high (39.1%) in the northeast while that of tenement houses and multi-household houses (32.5%) was high in the northwest.⁵⁾

The home ownership rate of the elderly population was 72.4%, a relatively very high level when considering that, with the 2020 Korea Housing Survey as the standard, the home ownership rate for the entire city amounted to 42.2%. As for individual areas, the figures were equal to or above the average for Seoul for the northeast (73.7%) and the northwest (73.6%), and the home ownership rate was relatively low (66.6%) in the southeast.

Meanwhile, the elderly population tends to be low in mobility in comparison with other age groups such as general households and youths. According to the results of the 2020 Korea Housing Survey, the duration of residence in the current housing only amounted to an average of 1.8 years for young households aged 39 or below but amounted to an average of 12.2 years for elderly households aged 65 or above. When examined per the duration of residence, senior citizens living in the same areas for 20 years or more exceeded the half, with those whose duration of residence amounted to 30 years or more taking up 33% of the total as well. As for individual areas, the ratio of the duration of residence amounting to 30 years or more was high in the downtown and the northwest (Table 4).

Table 4.

Period of residence in the relevant area of the elderly(Unit: person, %)

Because the elderly population experiences reduced physical functions in terms of life cycles, their use of neighborhood facilities is inevitably reduced, unlike the case of youths, and, according to a study by Kim, Y. J. (2012), the limit distance only amounts to around 250-400 m. Consequently, neighborhood environments in local communities or near homes invariably have even more important effects on senior citizens’ quality of life. As in<Table 5>, aspects found dissatisfactory by the elderly population in using major neighborhood facilities in the areas of their current residence were grasped, the results of which were high, in the order of inconvenience in using convenience facilities (26.1%), inconvenience in using public transportation (22.1%), and inconvenience in using medical facilities (18.2%).

Table 5.

Inconvenience of using neighborhood facilities

As for individual areas, the ratio of dissatisfaction with the use of medical facilities was high but that of dissatisfaction with the use of convenience facilities and public transportation was low in the northeast. In the northwest, most responses fell below the averages, thus showing that inconvenience in using local neighborhood facilities was not great in comparison with other areas.

For senior citizens to wish to age in place, neighborhood environments and local community services must be provided, and also necessary along with them is social support (Kwon, O. J. and Kim, J. Y., 2019). Here, in order to grasp the degree of the elderly population’s participation in local communities, the frequency of these people’s contact with or visits to neighbors was grasped, and their use of religious facilities, which were expected to play an important role in maintaining senior citizens’ communities, was examined (Table 6).

Table 6.

Local community activities of elderly

The ratio of respondents stating that they frequently visited neighbors, 1-2 times per week or more, amounted to 68.0%, the highest in the southwest (71.9%) and followed by the northeast (68.3%) and the northwest (65.5%), in this order, in terms of areas. The religious facility use ratio amounted to 49%, being high in the northwest (54.0%) and the southwest (50.6%) in terms of areas. Religious facility use rates were relatively low in the northeast and the downtown.

Meanwhile, the results of an analysis of satisfaction felt by senior citizens in daily life with their health status, economic status, social, leisure, and cultural activities, and housing status are as in <Table 7>. Answers that the respondents were satisfied with their social relationships (62.5%) and housing status (52.9%) were the highest, followed by satisfaction with their health status (46.4%) and leisure and cultural activities (39%), in this order. Replies that the respondents were satisfied with their individual economic status were the lowest, amounting to 25.8%.

Table 7.

The elderly’s satisfaction with daily life

When satisfaction with daily life per area is compared with that for all of Seoul, senior citizens in the northeast were relatively high in satisfaction with their social relationships and housing status but low in satisfaction with their health, economic status, and leisure and cultural activities. The elderly population in the northwest overall exhibited a level of satisfaction similar to or somewhat lower than the average level of satisfaction felt by of senior citizens throughout Seoul.

In order to confirm factors influencing the elderly population’s intention to age in place, raw data from the 2018 Survey on the Welfare and Living Conditions of the Elderly in Seoul were used to conduct analysis. Out of the 3,034 senior citizens aged 65 or above who responded to the survey, samples who replied to questions related to the intention to age in place were “single-person households” or “households consisting only of senior citizens aged 65 or above,” and a total of 1,873 cases meeting these criteria were selected as the objects. They were obtained by applying the sample weights whose accuracy of estimation had been statistically strengthened through allocation per autonomous gu to the number of sample respondents (1,906) who had responded to the relevant questions.

As for dependent variables, responses to the question “Health permitting, where do you intend to live?” were used, with a distinction made between “I intend to continue residence” (1) and “I do not intend to continue residence” (0). The answer “I wish to continue living at my current home” was seen as “I intend to continue residence” (1), and the replies “I wish to move to a better home” and “I intend to live at an elderly care facility or an elderly welfare facility where meals and daily convenience services are provided” were defined as “I do not intend to continue residence” (0).

As for the explanatory variables, a total of 19 variables across four spheres were selected on the basis of theories on and the results of earlier studies on senior citizens’ residential choices and aging in place. More specifically, they consisted of: 1) senior citizens’ demographic/household characteristics (gender, age, number of household members, educational level, satisfaction with health status); 2) socioeconomic characteristics (household income, economic activity status, satisfaction with economic status); 3) residential environments (duration of residence, housing type, occupation type, housing satisfaction, inconvenience in using convenience facilities, public transportation, and medical facilities in given areas); and 4) participation in local communities (frequency of contact with or visits to neighbors, use of religious facilities, satisfaction with leisure and cultural activities, and satisfaction with social relationships with neighbors and friends). The composition of the explanatory variables, establishment of categorical variables, and respective basic statistics were as in <Table 9>.

Table 9.

Variables and basic statistics

Meanwhile, the northeast2 and the northwest were defined as elderly-concentrated areas, and influence factors of senior citizens’ intention to age in place were examined, with a focus on these areas. Seoul's northeastern region includes eight autonomous gu, so the northeast2 (Seongbuk-gu, Gangbuk-gu, Dobong-gu, and Nowon-gu) with a high density of the elderly population was selected and analyzed because the space range is wide.

In order to grasp factors affecting the elderly population’s intention to age in place, this study used the logistic regression model, which is one of the probabilistic choice models based on the random utility theory. This signifies the assumption that, in the decision-making process, individuals choose alternatives that maximize utility (Lee, H. Y. and Noh, S.C., 2013; and Nam, J. and Kim, J.H., 2015).

As for the binary logistic regression model out of the models, dependent variables consist of the nominal scale, which is 0 or 1, and p(X) predicts the probability of a particular choice being made under the given conditions. The probability of the occurrence of a particular incident is predicted through the odds, or the ratio of the probability of the incident occurring and the probability of that incident not occurring. This model takes on the form of an S-shaped curve with the minimum value of 0 and the maximum value of 1, and, in order to resolve statistical problems⁶⁾ arising here, conversion into a linear logistic function that takes a logit taking a natural logarithm to the odds values as a dependent variable is made before use (Lee, H. Y. and Noh, S. C., 2012). The equations for this are as follows: