Effective Environmental Aspects of Public Spaces Formation to Achieve Successful Aging With Emphasis on Elderly Preferences of Shiraz

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to identify and present environmental aspects that affect elders presence and participation in urban public spaces. Methods & Materials: The current research is an analytic- descriptive type in survey beds. Statistical sample of this research were elders over 65 years of Shiraz City that attended and participated in urban public places. Data of this research was collected from 2 groups of 50 people with in-depth interviews and 144 people through questionnaire of the selected sample. Also, SPSS and LISREL software applied as an analysis procedure, analytical factor as a structure and weighted least square as an analysis data method. Results: Following aspects are important in elders view towards urban spaces: 1) Access (public access to space, T=4.81), 2) Security (low occurrence of crime, T=14.09), 3) Comfort (appropriate and designed furniture, T=5.59), 4) Dynamism and attractiveness (various functions, T=3.94), 5) Harmony with nature (cleanliness and lack of pollution, T=5.44), 6) Ambiguity (presence of detectable spots, T=7.24), 7) Identity (color & material harmony with environment, T=3.37), 8) Freedom (free to do various activities, T=9.49), 9) Event disclosure (occur cultural events, T=4.65), 10) Context (harmony with the surrounding environment, T=4.44), 11) Unity (low dispersion of space elements, T=26.72), 12) Order (general and detail order in space, T=15.79), 13) Image (design in accordance with local customs, T=7.76) Conclusion: Recognizing elderly’s needs and making appropriate efforts to respond to their needs and preferences in designing urban public spaces can improve their quality of life and enhance their achievement of successful aging goals.