Abstract
Ageing of the population in European cities creates fundamental challenges with regard to employment, pensions, health care and other age-related services. Many older people want to live independent lives as long as possible. This aspiration is currently strongly supported by many local governments. A precondition for 'ageing in place' is that older people perceive their neighbourhoods as familiar and safe places. In the Netherlands, many neighbourhoods with an ageing population have been subject to urban restructuring policies. An important question is to what extent such policies affect the housing situation, socioeconomic position and social support networks of older people, as these factors strongly assist their ability to 'age in place'. The paper answers this question through an exploratory analysis of a small but unique panel data set from Hoogvliet, a large urban restructuring area in the city of Rotterdam. The partly counter-intuitive results show that restructuring has enabled 'ageing in place'. Compared to stayers, movers within Hoogvliet often report improved housing quality and positive neighbourhood change. The exploratory analyses did not provide evidence of decreased social support or increased loneliness through restructuring-induced disruptions of social ties. Various 'buffer measures' have been effective in preventing negative restructuring impacts on older residents.
Highlights
An important demographic development is the ageing of the population in many countries [1]
While some older residents stay put in the same dwelling, others may have to move because of demolition, or they voluntarily move into newly constructed dwellings within the restructuring area. This will likely have varying impacts on perceived restructuring benefits or burdens, such as housing satisfaction and mental health. Considering these caveats, this paper aims to establish medium term impacts of typical restructuring interventions on the housing situation and social support networks of older people in a long-standing urban restructuring area in Rotterdam
We focus our analysis on changes in housing situation, and indicators of social support and loneliness
Summary
An important demographic development is the ageing of the population in many countries [1]. Many Dutch local governments have implemented policies that support older people to remain in their current dwelling instead of ‘moving’ them into old people’s homes or nursing homes [3, 4]. Such ‘ageing in place’ policies are considered as necessary for cutting the costs of institutionalized care, and expected to have positive implications for the physical and mental health and well-being of older people [1, 5, 6]
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