Avantage - Housing in Wettsteinpark, Basel

Housing for the elderly

Three private foundations who are all concerned with the questions of housing for the elderly have joined forces in the context of a new housing project in Basel. They have done this in order to scrutinize the question of what may be involved in innovative housing estates tailored for the elderly part of the population.

The Christoph Merian Stiftung, who runs five such estates already, has donated a plot of land. The Stiftung Basler Dybli will erect a housing block on this land, in which apartments will be allocated to elderly people. The Age Stiftung has provided additional finances and man power in order for the project to succeed in rethinking the idea of a housing estate for the elderly.

An important aim of the project is to contribute to strengthen the self-esteem of the people living on the estate. To move into this form of dwelling, the residents should be able not only to live in an uplifting social setting but they should also allow residents to contribute as empowered individuals to the estate as a social context as well as to the larger urban area in which it is situated.

ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE will carry out a three-part evaluation of the project. The aim is to investigate the extent to which the objectives of the new management system, which is put in place by the Merian Stiftung, are being met.