A Type-Based Assessment Method for Matching Policy Supply to Everyday Demands in Age-Friendly Spaces: A Case Study of Changsha, China

Against the backdrop of intensifying global population aging, ensuring the sustainable provision of age-friendly spaces has become an important domain of urban policy intervention. A close examination of the supply–demand matching of age-friendly spaces is therefore essential for policymakers seeking to achieve social and environmental sustainability in an aging society. However, existing approaches to assessing this alignment primarily rely on quantitative analyses of geographical spatial distribution, lacking methods to evaluate the structural alignment of spatial functional types. To address this gap, this study proposes and validates a type-based quantitative approach to examining the alignment between policy supply and everyday demands for age-friendly spaces. By integrating policy text analysis, questionnaire surveys, activity logs, and behavior snapshots, the study identifies the types of age-friendly spaces mentioned by policies and those demanded in daily life, and quantitatively evaluates their alignment using a matching model. The results show that the older adults’ spatial demands shift progressively from life-oriented spaces to survival-oriented spaces as age increases and health declines. More importantly, a significant structural imbalance is evident: survival-oriented spaces are oversupplied, while life-oriented spaces remain in short supply. This study provides a diagnostic method for assessing the provision of age-friendly spaces and provides practical implications for local governments in formulating more balanced, responsive, and sustainable supply strategies.