The Availability of Social Space in the Urban Yogyakarta, the Case Study of Umbulharjo District

Social interaction for the elders is one of the important activities as self-actualization in the community which can be done by involving themselves in various activities in the neighbourhood. The phenomenon of increasing elderly living in urban areas requires cities to be able to provide an environment which accommodates the physical limitations of the elderly. Yogyakarta City, which has an elderly population of 12.87 of its total, needed to provide comfortable facilities for the elderly as an effort to improve their quality of life. This study aimed to describe the elders' social activities in Yogyakarta City and identify the facilities provided by the government to meet the needs of elderly activities. This study used primary data obtained through structured interview to the elderly and field observation. The results showed that most of the elderly's social activities in Yogyakarta were carried out near their homes due to physical limitations. Most of the locations are public places within the housing area provided by the government such as the local citizen hall and public open space. The Yogyakarta city government needs to improve infrastructure to facilitate the elders' activities, especially in certain area like river bank. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.