The sustainable renewal of old residential communities faces increasing challenges in addressing the diverse environmental needs of older residents while respecting spatial constraints. Conventional approaches often treat older adults as a homogeneous group, overlooking how functional and social heterogeneity shape spatial perception. To address this gap, this study examines perceptual priorities in micro-public spaces of old residential communities in Qingdao, China, by classifying 60 community-dwelling older adults into four profiles using the Successful Aging framework. Participants performed free-viewing tasks using eye-tracking to observe 18 areas of interest (AOIs). Results reveal a clear perceptual hierarchy structured by individual profiles. Older adults with lower functional ability (Q3, Q4) allocate significant visual resources to safety-critical elements as a form of compensatory monitoring. Conversely, a systematic perceptual shift from survival-oriented assessment to quality-oriented evaluation was observed as functional and participatory reserves increased. High-participation groups (Q1, Q3) prioritized comfort facilities, while esthetic features attracted sustained attention primarily among the high-function/high-participation group (Q1). These findings provide empirical evidence for differentiated micro-renewal strategies that prioritize perceptual stress reduction and affordance enrichment in old residential communities.
Ren et al. (Fri,) studied this question.