A contemporary approach to the spatial design of healthcare care facilities faces numerous challenges at the crossroads of multidisciplinary topics of architecture and urbanism, healthcare, security, and organisational sciences. Due to the unique combination of uses, users and architectural expression, they are defined as urban nodes. With their inclusion, architects facilitate a better placing of healthcare facilities, indirectly improving human health. The purpose of the article is to seek guidelines for the siting of healthcare facilities to provide suitable and equal healthcare to different social structures, and for the optimal and fair spatial distribution of healthcare services. The descriptive method was used to review literature on the siting of healthcare facilities based on the purpose of their operation, demographic changes, environmental characteristics, and the impact on public health. This method was selected as it facilitates data acquisition from various sources and a comprehensive understanding of the topic discussed. The results of the research show how important the impact of the healthcare care facilities siting on human health and the wider social significance of the topic discussed is. The findings may provide guidelines and proposals for future spatial decisions.

The quality of living environments for older adults represents a critical component of social sustainability in an ageing society. Among various housing options, nursing homes are the most institutionalised form of elderly care and demand special attention regarding architectural design. This paper explores the impact of architectural and open space features on social sustainability in living environments for older adults. A comparative analysis of three Slovenian nursing homes is presented. The first two, built in the post-war period, were based on elevated architectural criteria inspired by Swedish human-centred housing design. The third was completed in 2021 in the post-COVID-19 era, which revealed the vulnerability of such housing typologies. An integrated methodological framework was developed by applying two complementary assessment tools: the Safe and Connected, developed by the authors to evaluate the spatial, health, and social resilience of nursing home environments, and the Well-being and Integration, addressing the role of open space with a particular emphasis on the identification of older adults with their environment and the facilitation of social resilience. Both tools evaluate indicators linked to the social dimension of quality of life for older adults. The results show a gradual improvement in architectural quality from the 1960s to the 1980s, followed by a partial decline in the contemporary case. The Swedish example scored highest across both tools. In contrast, the newest Slovenian facility scored surprisingly low in social integration, highlighting critical gaps in current nursing home design. This study demonstrates the value of applying interdisciplinary, tool-based evaluations in identifying design strategies that foster resilient and inclusive LTC environments, and the proposed framework may serve as a decision-making aid for architects, planners, and policymakers. This research highlights the importance of reintroducing human-oriented design principles to support socially sustainable nursing home environments.

U članku se analiziraju stambena naselja [RE] u Sloveniji s obzirom na njihovu kvalitetu i integritet koje su se mijenjale ovisno o socio-ekonomskim okolnostima: najprije u kontekstu socijalističkog društvenog poretka u vrijeme Jugoslavije (1945.-1990.), a zatim nakon stjecanja državne neovisnosti u okolnostima slobodnog tržišta. Rad donosi istraživanje stambenih naselja u Mariboru u različitim vremenskim razdobljima. Rezultati ukazuju na kvalitativne razlike u razdoblju skandinavskog utjecaja, kao i parametre inženjerske ekonomije nakon stambene reforme i tržišne ekonomije nakon stjecanja nezavisnosti.

The chapter highlights a few aspects of social sustainability issues concerning planning and renewal of housing estates, in Slovenia generally comprising of multi-family residential buildings and public buildings, open public space and parking areas. As a phenomenon, the characteristic influence of Scandinavian models, especially Swedish that have radically changed urban design and architecture practice in Slovenia are presented and investigated in the context of historical perspective, with emphasis on the organization and planning on the post-war housing estates development in Maribor. Currently, in order to raise the housing quality, the modern urban renewal methods expose the open public space planning as the most decisive factor. Poglavje izpostavlja nekatere vidike socialne trajnosti v urejanju in prenovi stanovanjskih sosesk, ki so bile v Sloveniji praviloma osedotočene na gradnjo večstanovanjskih objektov in objektov z javno vsebino ter odprtih površin oz. površin namenjenih mirujočemu prometu. Kot fenomen predstavljamo značilne vplive skandinavskih modelov, zlasti švedskih, ki so korenito spremenili urbanistično in arhitekturno prakso v Sloveniji in jo obravnavamo iz zgodovinske vidika s poudarkom na organizaciji in načrtovanju povojne izgradnje stanovanjskih sosesk v Mariboru. Sodobne metode urbane prenove kot odločilni dejavnik izpostavljajo nove pristope v načrtovanju odprtega prostora za dvig kakovosti urbanega okolja in s tem kakovosti bivanja na splošno.