Spatial Aspects of the Shopping Patterns of the Urban Elderly: The Case of Central Area Apartment Dwellers

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper offers an exploratory investigation of spatial aspects of the shopping patterns of elderly downtown residents. Attention is explicitly focused on their usage fields, transport modes, and shopping context. The shopping behaviour of the elderly is evaluated with reference to that of a baseline group of non-elderly consumers. The data are obtained from a questionnaire/interview survey of random samples of elderly and non-elderly apartment dwellers in the central area of Winnipeg. The findings indicate that the elderly's shopping trips are largely restricted to the central business district. In contrast, the non-elderly exhibit more extensive movement patterns, particularly when purchasing relatively expensive items. These differences appear to be related to the higher level of transport deprivation among elderly persons, although some are able to compensate for their limited mobility by travelling as bus or automobile passengers.