Social Infrastructure supporting Ambient Assisted Living in a Smart Silver City: Literature Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Cities in EU member states are ageing. The increasing number of older urban residents have difficulties with basic activities of daily living due to physical and cognitive functional decline. Therefore, the demand for long-term care services in urban areas is rising. In the last 20 years, emerging technologies such as wireless communication, Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, ambient intelligence and cloud computing have opened up the possibilities of developing cyber-physical systems with various applications supporting older adults to remain physically and mentally active and live autonomously while being engaged in their communities. This paper shows that social infrastructure is an under-researched area of a smart city compared with digital infrastructure, transport infrastructure and utilities. This paper aims to review the digital transformation of social infrastructure for older adults in a smart city based on ambient assisted living technologies and propose a future research agenda. Key words: smart city, ambient assisted living, health care, social care, social infrastructure