Conceptualization of cultural sustainability for elderly Pondok Village (EPV)

Abstract

Elderly Pondok Village (EPV) is viewed as a feasible accommodation that provides religious teaching and learning with residential facilities for ageing communities. Currently, Muslim retirees seem to prefer pondok system as one of the choices to spend their time after retirement. With the growing interest in this system, a comprehensive EPV model is crucial to meet the needs and such model will provide a dynamic environment for aging population. Many debates and issues of EPV have taken place in which issues such as lack of energy efficiency, safety, comfort, design for flexibility and social sustainability requirements were highlighted. To provide adequate, good quality accommodation, there is an urgent need for EPV to provide a living environment that fully addresses the sustainable requirements including social needs. Therefore, the aim of this review is to identify the important facilities to be included in the EPV and to check the conformity of the facilities to cultural sustainability and Islamic guidelines. This paper presents the review of findings on sustainable requirements based on synthesising sustainable pondok/retirement village model across the globe. The discussions highlighted some important considerations to include in the facilities provided for Muslim retirees. The results of the study indicated a few significant factors to consider which will foster cultural sustainability. Implementation of the suggested facilities will support the cultural sustainability according to the stipulated Islamic perspectives.