Beijing’s old communities will be remodeled for aging and customized "menus" will be launched

Residents can choose to improve and upgrade the content according to their wishes

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently solicited opinions on the "Guiding Opinions on Comprehensive Renovation of Old Residential Areas, Implementation of Ageing Reconstruction and Construction of Barrier-Free Environments."

According to the draft for comments, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the old communities in Beijing to implement comprehensive renovation need to clarify the content of suitable aging transformation and barrier-free environment construction in accordance with local conditions. At the same time, a "menu-style" transformation was launched. In addition to 9 items that must be transformed, residents can choose to improve and upgrade the transformation content according to their wishes.

The draft for comments puts forward the five major aspects of aging-adaptive transformation and barrier-free environment construction in old communities, including accessibility transformation, public space aging-adaptation transformation, indoor living environment transformation, aging-appropriate public service facilities, and increasing the effective supply of home care services. Involving the aging renovation and barrier-free environment construction of public areas such as community roads, green space, and common venues, construction should be synchronized with the comprehensive renovation of old communities.

In order to facilitate the residents to formulate a reasonable renovation plan, the draft for soliciting opinions introduced a "menu-style" model, which divided the renovation into basic, perfect and upgrade categories. Among them, the basic category is the content that must be reformed, and the perfect category and promotion category are the content that residents can choose according to their wishes. Specifically, there are 9 basic renovations, including the barrier-free renovation of residential building entrances and exits, the barrier-free renovation of pedestrian roads in the community, and the ageing renovation of the guidance sign system in the community. There are 9 perfect renovations, including community greening and public venue renovation and renovation, the addition of fitness exercise equipment and instructions for use in the activity venues for the elderly, and the installation of rest seats and public entertainment facilities along the activity venues and promenades for the elderly. There are a total of 11 upgrades, including the installation of auxiliary facilities for climbing stairs or the installation of elevators in conditional four-story and above residential buildings without elevators, barrier-free parking spaces near the entrance of residential buildings in the community, conditions that can set up elderly dining tables or canteens, the community adds small and medium-sized elderly care institutions that provide full-time care services.

Excerpt from "China Construction News"