THE ELDERLY QUALITY OF LIFE (E-QoL) AND RETIREMENT VILLAGE PREFERRED FEATURES BY MALAYSIAN GENERATIONS

Abstract

Along with the continuous growth of the elderly population, Malaysia projected to become an ageing nation by 2030. The Retirement Villages are a Restricted Ageing Community that offers a complete range of services supplying the diverse housing demand of the elderly (seniors) generation. The World Health Organization (WHO) identified four broad domains universally relevant to the Quality of Life: physical and psychological health, social relationships, and environment. This study aims to provide an in-depth overview of the Retirement Villages in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are sets as follows: (i) To define the Elderly Quality of Life (QoL), and (ii) To determine the generational preferences features of Retirement Village in Malaysia. The Malaysian housing generations involved in this study are the Baby Boomers, Generation X (Gen-X), Generation Y (Gen-Y), and Generation Z (Gen-Z). With a mixed-methods approach, the derived findings revealed that preferred generational features of Retirement Villages are diverse for each main feature; (i) Location; (ii) Services; (iii) Design Criteria; (iv) Physical Environment; and (v) Social Activities. This study contributes more understanding of the main actors of property development and the real estate industry players on the preferred features for Retirement Villages in the Malaysian context.