The significant growth of the ageing population is a phenomenon happening globally, where the population of the elderly is increasing year by year. Malaysia is similarly experiencing the same situation as other countries, with the ageing population trend projected to increase. By 2030, it is estimated that 15% of the population will be 60 years old or older (Md Nor & Ghazali, 2021). Therefore, the increase in the number of elderly individuals has substantial effects on the demand for care, financial resources, and facilities aimed at enhancing their well-being and quality of life (Akmal et al., 2017); (Md Nor & Ghazali, 2021).

Hence, there is a growing demand for Smart Living housing options that combine housing with health and social services to help older adults maintain their independence (Guzman, 2019). Smart living is a housing concept that caters to the residents’ well-being with universal design-ready features. The rising demand for elderly-friendly housing is driven by the growing ageing population and the need for improved comfort, security, and healthcare services. Developing ageing-in-place infrastructures is essential to meet the market requirements for elderly housing units. (Subotic, 2022) (Miao et al., 2022). Another concept that is well known to be applied to assist ageing people is the universal design concept house, a dwelling specifically tailored to meet the needs of elderly individuals, ensuring accessibility, safety, and comfort. However, there is little focus on the application of universal design features that facilitate ageing in place, simultaneously improving the quality of life for the elderly (Mnea & Zairul, 2023).

Smart Living and Universal Design principles are trusted to play crucial roles in enhancing the quality of life, especially for the elderly and disabled individuals. Over the years, the need to address the ageing population and the disabled sparked the smart living concept, which has been growing and evolving to fulfil the demand and technological revolution in various industries, including the construction industry (Liao et al., 2023). However, despite the increasing need for ageing population housing features to support ageing in place, the housing market's response has been inadequate, with a small fraction of homes being considered suitable for seniors with mobility difficulties (Charlotte et al., 2021). As the population continues to age, there is a pressing need for the housing market to adapt and provide more suitable options for older individuals (Harrington et al., 2023).

This research aims to investigate the feasibility of implementing smart living through universal design housing elements to enhance the well-being of the ageing population in Malaysian housing developments through a systematic literature review. The review utilizes the Bibliometric Analysis and is conducted using Visualization of Similarities (VOS) Viewer software to determine the existing practice, research gap, and the possibility of adopting universal design housing features to prepare for ageing populations in Malaysia.

The growth of academic knowledge is very significant, as thousands of new articles, reports, and other materials are published day by day (To & Yu, 2020). The rapid rise in the number of journals has resulted in a proliferation of low-quality research, making it challenging for researchers to get high-quality material [(Demir, 2018); (Linnenluecke et al., 2020)]. It can also result in overlapping similarities, susceptibility to bias, poor application of evidence synthesis methods, challenges in critical writing, limited use in certain fields like social sciences, misinterpretation, and underdevelopment despite their significance. These limitations can hinder the effectiveness and reliability of literature reviews, impacting the quality of research output [(Kraus et al., 2022) ;(Neal et al., 2020)].

A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) can address these limitations as it offers numerous benefits in scientific research by providing a rigorous and transparent approach to summarizing the current state of knowledge on a specific topic (Pérez et al., 2024). It is also used to identify, analyze, and summarize relevant research findings on specific research questions or topics as well as gather comprehensive insights from a wide range of academic and scientific documents, enabling researchers to synthesize existing knowledge effectively [(Dini et al., 2024); (Albérico & Boechat, 2024)]. Additionally, SLR can be presented from several perspectives to highlight gaps, theories, bibliometrics, the volume of research, and the practicality of the research’s outcome (Dhiman et al., 2023).

The quality of systematic literature reviews significantly influences the validity of research findings within a specific domain. By employing rigorous methods and evaluation criteria, the systematic literature review can ensure the reliability and credibility of synthesized data, ultimately enhancing the trustworthiness of research outcomes [(Rakha et al., 2023); (Okesola et al., 2022)]. Thus, the systematic literature review is basically a thorough study of designated databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, as well as other additional literature that is not accessible in these databases, that will go through a systematic process for analyzing and producing relevant findings (Linnenluecke et al., 2020).

Writing a comprehensive SLR requires appropriate procedures to establish a sound outcome. Initially, the need for identification and developing criteria for conducting a review is required to properly plan a comprehensive SLR. This is followed by the identification and assessment of studies. Next, data needs to be extracted and synthesized before finally presenting the review (Dhiman et al., 2023).

The systematic literature review, supported by VOS analysis, highlights a distinct gap in the integration of Smart Living and Universal Design in the context of housing for the ageing population. While there has been considerable research focusing separately on Smart Living and Universal Design, these studies tend to treat the two concepts in isolation, without exploring their combined potential to enhance housing solutions for older adults.

Our review indicates that research on Smart Living has seen substantial growth, with many studies focusing on the incorporation of new technologies aimed at improving comfort, security, and healthcare services for the ageing population. Similarly, Universal Design has been recognized for its role in making housing more accessible and age-friendly. However, despite the proven benefits of both approaches, little research has been done to integrate Smart Living technologies with Universal Design principles specifically for the ageing population living in Malaysia.

This paper emphasizes the potential for combining these two concepts, as the integration of Smart Living and Universal Design could offer comprehensive solutions to address the unique needs of the ageing population. The findings of this review reveal a clear research gap, highlighting the need for further studies that explore how these concepts can be synergistically applied in housing development for older adults. Addressing this gap would provide a solid framework for future research and contribute significantly to the development of housing that better supports the well-being of Malaysia’s ageing population.

The abstract of this paper was presented at the Geographic Perspectives on Climate Change Mitigation in Urban and Rural Environments (GCUE) Conference – 1st Edition, which was held on the 25^th - 27^th of June 2024.

The authors wish to thank those who helped in facilitating and assisting this research. This research is also part of the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) R.J130000.7852.5F622, funded by Malaysia’s Ministry of Education.