Sun City (city type)
Sun City refers to so-called retirement cities in the United States .
history
Developments towards "retirement cities" were foreseeable in the USA since the beginning of the 20th century. Southern states such as Florida or California were very popular with retirees from the north of the USA because of their natural geographic and climatic advantages. Thus, these states experienced an initial increase in above-average old resettlers, the so-called “health seekers”, who wanted to spend their retirement years in the mild climate of the southern states. As early as 1911, "Pilgrim Place" was the first settlement planned exclusively for the elderly in California. However, one cannot speak of real “Sun Citys” in today's sense, as the demographic development that favors this did not exist at that time and housing companies were not yet interested in this topic.
This changed from the second half of the century and above all through the "Housing Act" which came into force in 1956. This law was a subsidy by the American state that made loans possible for the construction of old people's homes to not-for-profit corporations and also to for-profit companies. "If a building contractor wants to build an entire old town, this gives him an excellent opportunity for long-term capital loans below the usual interest rate, because the federal government guarantees." The development was largely driven by the Del E. Webb Corporation , founded by the carpenter Del. E. Webb. They gained increasing interest in the possible new market of retirement cities in the 1950s and conducted extensive research and interviews in Florida, where there were already a large number of settlements with mostly elderly residents.
The real forerunner of today's Sun City is the retired town of Youngtown, founded in 1954 . Del E. Webb got his inspiration for later projects from the founding of Youngtown and designed his model of a Sun City in the late 1950s . His goal was to create a settlement that was specifically tailored to the needs of an aging population, albeit with restrictions. According to Webb, the target group should be the “active” retirees who want to spend their retirement years among like-minded people in order to lead a “young” life.
At that time, Webb bought a 8900 acre piece of land (a former cotton and lettuce field, about 12 miles from Arizona's capital Phoenix ) and built it with a golf course, a hotel and a restaurant. At the same time, he started a national advertising campaign for the purchase of houses in Sun City Arizona . The first models of the Sun City houses were made in two versions. Single and couple apartments. An upper-tier home was $ 10,000 when Sun City Arizona started .
The first Sun City opened its doors on January 1st, 1960 . Over the next few years, the city experienced an incredible development that pushed it to its limits in the late 1970s. At the end of the first week, 272 houses had already been sold, at the end of the year 1301, which included around 2500 residents. In 1978 Sun City Arizona had grown into an independent city with over 47,000 residents. The development of the city ran from south to north, with the houses planned along the spacious golf courses. The independence of Sun City Arizona was one of Webb's main ideas. The city was given all important infrastructural features from the very beginning. Churches, hospitals, supermarkets etc. were part of the cityscape of Sun City Arizona from the beginning.
The successful planning and realization of a Sun City in the early 1960s created a real trend and thus a new economic sector within the construction industry, which not only brought successful projects but also massive failures. “Small entrepreneurs who did not want to be satisfied with building a manageable number of plots on the edge of already existing settlements for pensioners under the generally favorable financing conditions, but instead planned an independent pensioner settlement right away, did not shy away from the risky development of cheap for lack of sufficient start-up capital Available desert soil. Bankruptcies were inevitable. Modern ghost towns emerged. "
Webb later planned two more Sun Cities in California and Florida. The cities were also planned and built according to the tried and tested ideals, but their success fell far short of expectations.
Todays situation
Due to the progressive effects of the aging population and the successful realization of the first pure retirement cities, the demand for this same type of housing grew. As a consequence of this process, more and more projects emerged and a new market developed. Today, there are a variety of such forms of settlement in the United States , which are mainly concentrated in the southwestern United States .
Sun City Arizona
Development of a retirement community using the example of Sun City Arizona
Sun City Arizona is a planned, designed and infrastructured new city building on desert soil near the Arizona's capital, Phoenix. The founding date of the city is January 1st, 1960. Before the first houses were built, streets, golf courses, hotels and shopping centers already existed. In its history, the city has seen rapid population growth. The 2000 census showed a population of 38,309.
The city has a characteristic circular floor plan, which is criss-crossed by spacious green areas, golf courses and water areas. Sun City West and Sun City Grand are two similarly designed sister cities in the immediate vicinity . Topographically, this area is characterized by an almost completely flat desert landscape.
Sun City Arizona is served by generously dimensioned roads, but the traffic is very low. The development consists predominantly of bungalow-like, single-storey single-family houses, which are offered by the Del E. Webb Corporation via catalog. With their architecture, which is reminiscent of house types from the northern US states, they shape the image of the city. This is quite deliberate, as a large proportion of the residents come from the more northern latitudes of the USA and are thus offered a certain feeling of familiarity in their new home. These standardized home types cover a wide price range, with the average price for a single family home in 2000 being $ 94,200. The house groups are arranged along winding golf courses, which means that they are fully integrated into the landscape of the city. Shopping centers and shops for daily needs are available in large numbers and are evenly distributed across the city. In addition, there is a delivery service that can supply every house with the required goods if required. The city also has a hospital, churches of various denominations and several so-called "Recreation Centers". The special form of a relaxation or fitness center is typical for Sun Citys and offers residents a wide range of leisure activities.
Sun City Arizona has no formal government, but is administered and organized by Del Webb Corporation and several other private companies. Sovereign tasks such as police service are carried out by the state. However, it should be mentioned here that there is lively and varied support from the people of Sun City, who volunteer in almost all areas. The commitment ranges, for example, from temporary help in administration, health care and the schools in the area to the exercise of the position of a lifeguard. This highly developed and differentiated form of volunteering is a defining characteristic of Sun City Arizona and the retirement communities in general.
The features mentioned are to a certain extent a local peculiarity, but since a large number of other retiree settlements were planned and completed nationwide by the Del Webb Corporation based on the example of Sun City Arizona, they can be regarded as generally applicable, especially in structural and logistical terms.
Life in a retirement community using Sun City Arizona as an example
Sun City Arizona, like most pure retirement cities, has an exceptional demographic and socio-economic structure. Since residents must have reached a minimum age of 55 years in order to be allowed to live in Sun City, this results in an urban average age of 75 years (see Sun City,). With an ethnic composition consisting of 97.7% white, 0.5% African American and 1% Hispanic, as well as an above-average household income and level of education, one can speak of a concentration of a white educated middle class elite. This relatively strong homogeneity of population age, income, educational level and ethnic origin forms the basis of coexistence in Sun City Arizona. Homogeneity among “peers” facilitates the integration of immigrants and the establishment of contacts within the population in general. Achieving group awareness is also promoted. The prerequisites of a settlement structure like in Sun City Arizona prove to be favorable to prevent problems in old age.
Leisure time as a central topic
Sun City Arizona sees itself not only in the advertising brochures, but also in a self-image adopted by the residents as a kind of "paradise for active retirees". Precisely because the overwhelming majority of residents have retired from work and there is therefore sufficient free time and financial opportunities for most of them, the topic of recreational activities plays a decisive role in everyday life. Since it was planned and designed with this function in mind, the city has a large number of infrastructural facilities, such as the “Recreation Center”, to meet the needs of older people for recreation and activities.
The leisure offer is diverse and is used by the inhabitants to a large extent and in different ways. For $ 700 a year, residents are offered the so-called “all-round happiness package”, which allows them to take advantage of the entire range of leisure options available for one year.
- Sports
- The city has large-scale and high quality golf courses that are right in the city. Golf is by far the most popular sport and is mainly practiced by the male residents. Other options include boat and bicycle rides, shuffel boards, tennis and swimming. All these offers shape the image of the “active” city and give the inhabitants the chance to feel young, to spend their free time with physical activities in the fresh air and, last but not least, to promote health.
- societies
- The club system and active participation in organizations is very pronounced in Sun City Arizona. With the support of the city, the residents organize, for example, sport and dance events on their own initiative, represent their interests in political discussion groups and show a significantly high level of motivation for voluntary activities that extend to almost all areas of urban life. Especially in the medical field and in administration people like to help out voluntarily. This commitment is seen as a matter of course, which contributes to mutual motivation in the strong group network of the community.
- Churches
- In Sun City Arizona there are a large number of different denominational groups that have their own premises and are very present and involved in everyday urban life. The community rooms are used as meeting places and as places for group meetings of all kinds, also for non-religious purposes. Another important function of the churches is pastoral care and the treatment of the topic of dealing with death, which is particularly relevant for old people. The already mentioned strong sense of belonging within the city makes it much easier to deal with it and has a positive effect on the attitude to life of an aging population.
- Culture
- As already mentioned, the population of Sun City can be described as the white educated middle class elite. Because of this high level of education, there is a relatively high demand for cultural support or a cultural offer. Theaters, museums and concerts experience a high number of visitors (compared to the American average) in Sun City.
- neighborhood
- A peculiarity of the American social structure is that most of the social contacts in the population arise from the neighborhood and not mainly from friendships and family. In Sun City, this effect is reinforced by various aspects. The neighbor not only belongs to the same social class, he also comes from the same generation. This increases the probability that the neighbor pursues similar interests and can look back on a comparable life. Experiences can be exchanged and problems can be addressed with one another through existing understanding.
In addition to the free organization of everyday life, living together in a retirement home is characterized by a specially prepared set of rules, which provides life in the cities with a general order. For example, relatives have the right to visit for a maximum of 30 days a year. The type and scope of the rules are, however, worth discussing.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Josef Koch: Retirement Cities in California. Tübingen, 1975.
- ↑ a b city-data.com 2004, Sun City Arizona, detailed profile