How to design a functional Senior Park?
Landscape designer Arja Paula speaks about aspects to consider when designing a Senior park.
Published: 1 January 1970, edited: 19 June 2024
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"I prefer the term senior park because it is more of an umbrella term. A senior park is not just for sport and exercise: it is an area with multiple functions and purposes, catering to the senses, memory-reinforcing experiences, and social activities, in addition to physical fitness."
The Finnish word vanhus basically means ‘old person’, but it carries the negative implication that the person is infirm, fragile, or otherwise in a weak condition. Perhaps this is because, even as recently as a couple of decades ago, old people generally used to be weaker and sickly than they are today. Maybe this is the reason the word is rarely used today; instead, we use terms that translate as ‘the elderly’ or ‘senior citizens’.