Content Analysis of Community Formation Characteristics in Public Rental Housing Reserved for the Elderly, ‘Haesimdang’

Housing welfare of the elderly has a great influence on individuals’ quality of life and national finances. This study analyzed the features of community formation in a small public rental collective housing for the elderly. In-depth interviews were carried out with 12 residents. Using content analysis method, responses were classified inductively. As a result, community activities were divided into 5 subjects(resident autonomy, neighborhood relations, building planning, building maintenance, and rooftop garden activities), and 30 sub-issues. Of the 227 responses, 23% were positive, 24% negative, and 15% neutral. There were relatively more positive responses to building plans and neighborhood relations activities, and negative responses to resident autonomy and building maintenance activities. Residents’ experiences of community activities were discussed with Giddens’ Structuration Theory, along with Symbolic Interactionism and Rational Choice as micro-level, Social Capital and Communicative Action as meso-level, Conflict and Functionalism as macro-level. Community activities had a mixture of diverse responses. It could be predicted that community housing will provide social capital to quickly integrate elderly residents from different backgrounds if negative factors are properly managed through resident community empowerment before and after moving in. This study is expected to stimulate community housing research and successful residents integration solutions.