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Apartment houses in Japan now face many serious problems. Japanese society is aging, resulting in 1 or 2 elderly people now living in houses built for larger households consisting of 3 or more people. This has distorted the structure of the population residing in apartments, so they do not function as district communities. To ensure the future effective utilization of our housing stock, we must tackle one fundamental challenge, namely developing methods of flexibly upgrading the existing housing stock to respond to change of the makeup of the population of regional societies and to changing life styles. Housing production and supply systems that enable residents to personally plan and decide specifications must be introduced to establish infill upgrading as an effectively functioning part of the future housing market.

A complete enumerative study was made of the operating and maintenance costs of the 1,255 delivery post offices throughout Japan in 2000, in order to grasp the characteristics of the whole life costs of post office buildings. The operating and maintenance cost of five standard post offices were also monitored for 20 years. This paper demonstrates how the acquired knowledge of the whole life costs is used for the decision making of the facility investment. After analysing the relationship between the rebuilding cycle, and rebuilding, repair and improvement costs, by changing the present rebuilding at age 40 to building additions at age 40 and rebuilding at age 60, it became apparent that a significant reduction in facilities investment costs could be expected.

With new urgency, governments, private corporations and institutions and private citizens are demanding sustainable new construction, regenerative neighborhoods and building adaptation rather than demolition. These demands are voiced in respect to both immediate and long−term community and individual values and aspirations.

Adaptability studies in the literature include repetitive models and completely independent new model proposals. As a result of the evaluation of these studies, the lack of analysis studies based on a certain algorithm was determined. In this context, in this study, existing models are evaluated in order to contribute to future studies in the context of adaptability. This study is presented as a guide for new studies in the context of adaptability.

In the study, first of all, the change of the concept of adaptability in the historical process was investigated by literature review from 1958 to the present. Then, a comparative analysis of the existing adaptability models used in architecture between the years 2007–2020 was made in the context of the main and sub-criteria obtained in the literature research.

In the study, the concept of adaptability, the definition of building adaptability and the analysis of adaptability models were examined and findings were obtained under three main headings. The definition of adaptability takes place in the literature on a multidisciplinary scale. In the definition of adaptability, it should cover not only structural but also functional, economic, technological and performance-oriented strategies applied to structures. Although the theories examined within the scope of building adaptability are seen as a guide for future studies, they should be supported by examples that can be applied in a global context. In the study, 7 adaptability models determined by a semi-systematic literature review were analyzed. The matrices of the models based on the adaptability sub-criteria are discussed in the context of scenario, physical life, openness, physical use, barriers and obsolescence. The data obtained is a guide for the models to be used in the future within the scope of adaptability.

This study presents a semi-systematic analysis of the studies in the literature on the adaptability of structures. In this context, the study serves as a guide for adaptability models to be designed in the future.