초록
Due to the global shift towards an ageing society, many countries face the challenge of increased social costs to support the elderly. Such social costs refer to not only the increased medical costs of the vulnerable social groups, but costs to generally allow the aged to live a healthy and active life. This is known as active ageing, where the continued living in one's most familiar environment, the home, in the later stage of his or her life, rather than being institutionalized, is emphasized. Active ageing can be achieved through collaborative efforts between information-communication technologies, smart electronic appliances, medical services and building technologies. Such efforts have been made in the western countries during the past 20 years, and Korea is now following act. This study analyses domestic and overseas policies and related research surrounding healthcare, thus deriving architectural implications and means to stimulate architectural R&D. It was found that healthcare is being recognized by most countries as a key industry, thus joint efforts being made in liaison between industry, academic and government sectors. Noticeable outcomes were already achieved from ICT, smart-electronics and medical fields, while the architectural field is at a preliminary stage. On the other hand, compared to foreign countries, domestic regulations regarding u-healthcare were found to be unsuitable for the healthcare industry to develop, thus requiring amendments, while the architectural field is required to bring together the achievements from various fields into a 'u-healthcare home,' since it is the home where active ageing is to take place.