Elderly Challenges in Shopping Malls
We want the elderly people to enjoy life and one of their ways to enrich their lives is to go to public places, such as shopping malls, to interact with with people and enjoy themselves. However, there are problems which the elderly meet when they are in shopping malls.
Other than vision-impared, elderly people will have problems in movements as well. Hence, escalators in shopping malls are extremely important and they play a big role. Although there are escalators to transport people from one level to another, I find that the normal kind of escalator we encounter in every day's life are not convenient enough for the elderly.
First, let me give my definition of the "normal kind of escalators that we encounter everyday". The escalators that we usually see have steps (like stair-case) and when people have to step out the escalator, they need to react fast enough in order to step out of the escalator safely.
So here are some of the problems which I observed:
1st: Elderly people may not be able to react fast enough which means that the normal kind of escalators are not safe enough for them.
2nd: What elderly people need is not just the escalators which can transport them from one level to another, but perhaps, the kind of escalators found in Changi Airport.
To resolve the first problem, there are two types of escalators that we can consider about:
1. The escalator below can be found in the Beijing airport which was built in 2005 for the Olympics Games:
As we can see, there is more flat space provided for people to prepare to step out of the escalator and this can ensure the safety of the elderly who are slow in mobility.
2. The second type of escalator shown below can transport people from one level to another level and meanwhile it does not have the steps. This kind of escalators can be very convenient for elderly and those who are on wheelchairs. This type of escalators can be convenient for those who are carrying trolleys or prams too.
What I thought of to resolve the second problem is to have this kind of escalator installed in the shopping mall. However, compared with the first resolution, I think the previous one is more practical and efficient.
The images of some of the escalators are taken from:
http://www.gtselevator.com/images/yuruyenMerdivenYolRes.jpg
http://www.google.com/images?q=escalators+changi+airport&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&sa=N&start=20&ndsp=20
Lai Ziying
S101
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