The impact of neighbourhood environments on quality of life of elderly people: Evidence from Nanjing, China

The connections between the built environment and quality of life are major concerns in the fields of geography and urban planning. Given that some developing countries, such as China, have a rapidly aging society, elderly people have become a social group that attracts growing interest among scholars and policy makers. However, the relationship between neighbourhood environments and the quality of life of the elderly has scarcely been referenced in previous literature. Based on a recent survey in Nanjing, China, this article investigates such connections through structural equations models. It notes that population density exerts an insignificant influence on the life satisfaction of the elderly, whereas built year has the largest impact, indicating the importance of interior environment to subjective wellbeing for the elderly in China. The other built environment factors (informal space and danwei) that have Chinese features are negatively related to the quality of life of older people. Among life domains, the effects of health conditions, residential environments and transportation are stronger than those of social interaction, meaning that the elderly in China place greater emphasis on their basic needs than on higher life needs. This article has some policy implications for policy makers, including on urban form, informal spaces and style of residential communities. Relevant policies need to be carried out to promote the life satisfaction of elderly people in urban China. 建筑环境与生活质量之间的联系是地理和城市规划领域的主要关注点。鉴于中国等一些发展中 国家的社会快速老龄化，老年人这个社会群体引起了学者和决策者越来越多的关注。然而，以 前的文献几乎没有提到社区环境与老年人生活质量之间的关系。根据最近在中国南京进行的一 项调查，本文通过结构方程模型研宄这些关系。本文指出，人口密度对老年人的生活满意度影 响不大，而建筑年份影响最大，表明室内环境对中国老年人主观幸福感的重要性。其他具有中 国特色的建筑环境因素（非正式空间和单位）与老年人的生活质量呈负相关。在生活的各个方 面中，健康状况、居住环境和交通的影响比社交活动的影响更强，这意味着中国的老年人更重 视他们的基本需求，而不是更高的生活需求。本文对政策制定者而言有一些政策含义，包括城 市形式、非正式空间和居住社区风格方面的含义。需要实施相关政策来提升中国城市老年人的 生活满意度。