Living, Working and Ageing in the right place: An Exploration of Live-work housing for Older people in Bangkok, Thailand

Dr. Isaiah Durosaiye

School of Architecture

The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that many of us have been working from home for the first time in our lives over the past year or so. However, working and building your livelihood at home is not unusual around the world. ‘Live-work housing’ is a dwelling type that accommodates both living and livelihood activities, and is particularly vital to older people. Much more than a physical space, live-work housing can offer financial independence in later life, but also support our physical, cognitive and emotional health and provide a sense of identity and belonging as we age. This is particularly true for low-income older people who have, over a lifetime, built their livelihood within their own home. Hence, there are now emerging paradigms that advocate for people to ‘age in the right place’.

However, in the Global South, live-work housing is under threat from urban regeneration programmes, and the resettlement of low-income older residents can have adverse consequences, including disruption to livelihoods and detachment from social kinship. I’ll be talking about one such community, Klong Toey in Bangkok Thailand, which was the focus of a case study exploring the role of live-work housing for older people. I will discuss some of the challenges to the welfare, health and wellbeing of older people that stem from rehousing policy in the area, and propose some solutions using architectural design research co-produced with the community.