Abstract
Recently the importance of the elderly facilities is on the rise, due to the rapid increase of the aged population. One of the major trends appeared in retirement communities of advanced countries is social integration which has been considered as a promising future direction of elderly housing development. Then the purpose of this study was to propose design guideline for retirement communities to improve the quality of life for the aged through understanding the characteristics of college/university based retirement communities in USA and Japan. Data were collected through mainly web site and literature reviews. Four cases-Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, University Commons at the University of Michigan, Village at Penn State and Sunshine Plaza at Fukuoka Dental College- were selected for this research as successful cases. This study found that University based Retirement Communities give many benefits to baby boomer and University. UBRCs' members can access university's facilities and university provides a life-long learning experience and other programs. This study about UBRCs is expected to provide a implication in developing elderly housing of Korea.