Value-based programming for sustainable elderly housing: Insights from the spascapes framework

The demographic shift toward aging societies demands innovative methodologies for designing sustainable and user-oriented elderly housing. This Perspective article introduces a value-based programming approach grounded in the spascapes framework, developed through research on spa settlements. Historically, spa settlements combined health, leisure, and community, offering spatial models that resonate with contemporary needs of aging populations. The spascapes framework identifies six interrelated landscape dimensions (hydrothermal, therapeutic, cultural-historical, urban, ecological, and recreational) that together define holistic environments of care and wellbeing. By translating these dimensions into a value-based programming matrix, this article proposes a structured methodology for architectural programming that aligns user values with design decisions. Each dimension is reframed as a core value (e.g., health, wellbeing, belonging, accessibility, sustainability, and social interaction), linked to specific design implications and measurable indicators. This approach not only provides a heuristic tool for developing adaptable, inclusive, and sustainable housing but also bridges heritage-based spatial knowledge with contemporary architectural practice. By integrating spascapes into programming, spa settlements can be reinterpreted as prototypes for sustainable elderly living, offering lessons for future housing policies, community models, and interdisciplinary educational practices.