HOME ENVIRONMENT SAFETY RISKS AND PERCEIVED SAFETY AMONG EMPTY-NESTER ELDERLY IN NANCHANG, CHINA: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY

Abstract

China’s rapid population ageing and urbanisation have resulted in a growing number of empty-nester elderly living in housing environments not designed to support ageing in place. Despite policy initiatives such as Healthy China 2030, a critical gap persists between age-friendly policy ambitions and the actual safety conditions of domestic environments. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine home safety risks and the adoption of smart elderly care among 384 empty-nester adults (aged ≥60) across six urban districts in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. A structured survey was complemented by in-situ observations of ten purposively selected households to capture lived spatial practices and environmental conditions. The findings demonstrate that home environmental factors significantly influence perceived safety, explaining 89.7% of the variance (R² = 0.897, p < 0.001). Key determinants include mobility safety (β = 0.409), non-slip surfaces (β = 0.326), and adequate lighting (β = 0.191). Qualitative insights reveal the normalisation of unsafe adaptive practices, such as reliance on handheld lighting for night-time mobility and the use of temporary floor coverings to mitigate uneven surfaces. Spatial disparities across districts further highlight uneven implementation of age-friendly planning principles, with newer developments exhibiting barrier-free features, while older neighbourhoods remain inadequately retrofitted. The study contributes to urban planning discourse by exposing the disconnect between age-friendly policy frameworks and micro-scale residential realities. It calls for a more integrated planning approach that combines housing retrofitting strategies, inclusive design standards, and smart care technologies within local governance systems.