A Study on the Extraction of Community Vitalization Factors of Residents Living in Public Rental Elderly Housing

In Korea, where the aging rate is fast and the elderly poverty rate is the highest among OECD, it is urgent to find a cost-effective method due to rising social concerns caused by vulnerable elderly households. As a problem-solving mechanism for this, it is important to establish a residential community that can cultivate social capital. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors of community vitalization by exploring the characteristics of residents of small-scale public rental housing for the elderly. More specifically, based on the contents of interviews with residents about communal activities, the main factors for the creation and activation of resident communities were extracted and used to derive the profile of existing residents. As a result of individual interviews with 12 residents living in public rental housing with differentiated community spaces and inductively analyzing the contents, community activity participation, past experience and type, health status, problem perception, and problem coping tendency were extracted as 5 key factors. Each of these five factors is subdivided into 20 categories in four stages each, and the characteristics of individual residents are delineated using this framework. The profiles will be useful as basic data for planning and implementing appropriate community programs. Academically, it is expected to be a milestone in inspiring approaches to form social capital and environmental personology, and improving the cost-effectiveness and social value of housing.