A Social Support Theory-Based Post-Occupancy Evaluation Framework for Community Intergenerational Spaces: Empirical Evidence from Hangzhou Livelihood Service Complexes, China

This study develops and validates a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) framework to assess the social support level of elderly–child composite spaces. Grounded in social support theory, POE theory, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the framework comprises 2 core dimensions (instrumental support and emotional support), 6 first-level indicators, and 29 s-level indicators. The indicators were constructed through literature analysis, field research, and other methods, with weights determined via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) involving 10 interdisciplinary experts. Weighting results indicate that instrumental support (0.6208) carries greater importance than emotional support (0.3792); among first-level indicators, “accessibility and safety” (under instrumental support) and “degree of demand satisfaction” (under emotional support) rank highest. The framework was applied to 12 typical spaces across 4 categories in Hangzhou’s Minsheng Complexes (a community-integrated public service model). Empirical results show that infant–toddler growth stations achieved the highest scores (82.86–86.42), while community living rooms performed the weakest (78.96–81.21), with “function–need mismatch” identified as the core issue. This evaluation system provides a scientific basis for spatial diagnosis, optimization, and high-quality planning of elderly-child composite spaces in the future.