Zaradi staranja prebivalstva se razvite države vse bolj spopadajo s povečevanjem potreb po zagotavljanju ustrezne stanovanjske oskrbe za starejše ljudi in (s tem) s povečevanjem finančnih potreb za zagotavljanje zdravstvenih in socialnih storitev za starejše. Članekizhaja iz predpostavke, da bi lahko te potrebe zmanjšali s fizičnim (pre)oblikovanjem grajenega bivalnega okolja, s čimer bi starejšim ljudem omogočili, da bi lahko čim dlje ostali v domačem okolju, v katerem bi bili sposobni živeti čim samostojneje in čim boljkakovostno. Predstavljeni in kritično analizirani so trije pristopi: prilagajanje bivalnega okolja po načelu oblikovanja za vse, preureditev bivalnega okolja v pametno (inteligentno) okolje na podlagi podpornih tehnologij, vključitev bivalnega okolja v omrežjeoddaljenega nadzora. Izkazalo se je, da se kljub prednostim in priložnostim preoblikovanja grajenega prostora pojavljajo številne pomanjkljivosti, nevarnosti in dileme. V sklepu so predstavljena razmišljanja o načinih in možnosti uveljavitve obravnavanih pristopovv praksi; Due to ageing of the population, developed countries are dealing with increasing needs in providing adequate residential care for older people and (with this) demands in providing appropriate social and services for the elderly. This article assumes thatthese needs could be reduced with the physical (re) design of the built living environment, by which elderly people would be given the opportunity to remain in their home environments as long as possible, capable of independently living with as high a quality of life as possible. Three approaches are presented and critically evaluated: adaptation of the living environment according to the principles of design for all, arrangement of living environments in the smart (intelligent) environment based on the assistive technologies, integration of the living environment into a remote monitoring network. It turns out that despite the advantages and opportunities of the built environment redesigning many weaknesses, risks and dilemmas appear. In the conclusion, some ideas are presented on how approaches discussed could be implemented in practice.