Abstract
As the growing number of older people, particularly in urban areas, and changing lifestyles are increasing the importance of continuing to live in the community (ageing in place), studies show that age-related planning of living environments is often shaped by stereotypes, and that the needs of present and future older people are not sufficiently taken into account. In this context, two case studies based on Henri Lefebvre’s theory presented in his book The Production of Space investigate how ‘age-appropriate’ living environments are conceived, practiced and lived, and to what extent age-related stereotypes affect these processes. The two cases examined are an intergenerational project to promote physical activity and the development of a new city square. For both cases, interviews and walkthroughs were conducted with experts from various planning disciplines, as well as with current and future older people. The findings show that in planning practice the notions of old age and older people often remain diffuse and, at the same time, older people are often seen as a homogeneous and fragile group. The results indicate that the importance given to neighbourhood in old age can vary greatly. For social work, this implies that older people should be even more involved in the design of their living environments, through participatory processes, in order to better meet the heterogeneity of their needs.
Highlights
The neighbourhood needs to be understood as a spatial-physical living environment as well as a social setting for participation and support networks and, as such, as fundamental to dealing with everyday life successfully (Motel-Klingebeil, Wurm, & Tesch-Römer, 2010)
Far, based on the three factors of Henri Lefebvre’s (1991) theory, we have presented some results arising from the perspectives of the experts and the older people
The results mainly show age-related stereotypes and generalised images of older people, it must be said that some more differentiated age images were presented in the interviews
Summary
There is a clear link between the place and environment of a neighbourhood of older people, and their quality of life and well-being (Petersen & Minnery, 2013). Diversity and heterogeneity increase with age (Kydd, Fleming, Gardner, & Hafford-Letchfield, 2018; Lowsky, Olshansky, Bhattacharya, & Goldman, 2014; Santoni et al, 2015) Due to these rapid changes, older people today in no way represent a blueprint of tomorrow’s older people, and linear future scenarios such as planning templates are of limited use. Peer groups other than those based on the family will be of particular importance, while the neighbourhood as a reference framework and as a place of everyday life will provide the social arena for the formation of these peer groups Regardless of this starting point, the professional discourse around the living environment is implicitly shaped by constructions and perceptions of age and ageing. The consequences of this can become visible on an individual level (e.g., rejection of older people due to their age), as well as on an institutional level (e.g., societal living conditions systematically discriminating against older people; Ayalon & TeschRömer, 2018)
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