Senior-Friendly Furniture Design for Urban Public Spaces: A Solution for Physical, Social and Psychological Limitation and Well-Being

Abstract

With the rapidly increasing senior population globally, the need for the design and development of urban public spaces for senior citizens is also rising. Most senior citizens are reluctant to go outdoors often and prefer to spend most of the time indoors due to various physical, social and psychological limitations which also include the minimal consideration towards developing suitable furniture for them in the outdoor environment. This necessitates the development of furniture design in line with their preferences and requirements with special consideration towards their comfort level. A suitable and appropriate furniture design meeting all the requirements of design and human comfort enhances its usability by senior citizens and contributes to the concept of active ageing. This paper identifies the role of human dimensions in designing furniture for seniors in urban areas along with the impact of ergonomics of furniture design on them, through a literature review. Personal interactions and the questionnaire identified the factors that influence the usability of furniture in public spaces by senior citizens. The identified factors shall be statistically analyzed, for their association, acceptance and overall satisfaction of the senior citizens, through a chi-square test on SPSS. Pearson correlation, identified the most significant factor that influences the usability of furniture in public spaces by the senior citizens and the conclusions have been drafted based on the findings.