Leisure Amenities Research Articles

The marketing of retirement communities and retiree lifestyles

Abstract. Retirement communities offer the promise of a fulfilling life in old age. Purposefully planned and constructed with the intention of encouraging consumption through the promotion of successful ageing and a space in which to enjoy it, the success of retirement communities rests partially on the images used in attendant advertisements. Using content analysis to analyze the text of informational brochures provided to potential residents, this paper examines the images used to sell retirement communities. The sentences are classified into one of three categories: successful ageing, physical attributes of the community and old age related decline. The results show the overwhelming use of positive images to describe retirement community living and a denial of old age related physical decline. Most of the sentences in the brochures relate to the availability and plethora of leisure amenities in retirement communities, or endorse the idea of successful ageing by describing residents as active, healthy individuals with money to spend.

Enjoying fitness

In this issue we profile three physical activity projects, all of which aim to help individuals with mental health problems improve their physical well‐being, rebuild their confidence and start to use ordinary community leisure amenities again. Each project operates in a quite different way but a common ingredient is partnership working with other local agencies across traditional sectoral boundaries. The Barrow Community Gym is an award winning gym offering individually tailored and supported exercise programmes. Portsmouth Interaction offers a range of sports and recreation activities providing stepping stones toward mainstream community provision. Green gyms combine physical exercise with conservation work to improve the local environment, an approach that may appeal to those of us who cannot face the ordinary gym!

Freizeitgroßprojekte: Mehr Chancen oder Risiken für die Stadtentwicklung?


 
 
 On the basis of a comparison of current conditions in Murich and Oberhausen with regard to both the local economy and the state of urban development, the authors attempt to establish just what are the critical factors which determine whether the decision to locate a major leisure project (an “FGP”) in a particular city harbours more advantages or disadvantages for the city concerned. The authors look critically at the arguments frequently advanced in favour of FGPs, namely the “added leisure value” and “locational benefits”, as well as the gains anticipated for the city's economic strength, for city and regional development, for the city's image and for its competitive position vis-à-vis other cities. Proceeding from an appraisal of the current leisure value of the two cities, they go on to examine and to assess the impact of such a new FGP on the existing range of decentralised retail and leisure amenities. Where the initial assessment of a city's leisure value is high, an FGP is unlikely to be capable of generating additional demand. Thus, the very significant displacement of demand which can be expected to take place following the opening of a new FGP will be accompanied by losses in terms of both leisure value and urbanity. The authors also indicate what factors need to be considered in selecting the right location for an FGP, assuming that such a development is deemed desirable from an urban development perspective.
 
 
 
 
 

Types and patterns of later‐life migration

This paper refines previous typologies of later‐life mobility by explicitly evaluating the spatial migration patterns and household characteristics of retired American migrants. Migrants' lifecourse attributes (economic status, disability, presence of spouse), large‐scale migration patterns (internal migration) and household characteristics (living arrangements, economic independence, residential independence) are used to identify three types of post‐retirement mobility. The first type, amenity migration, has a distinctive spatial pattern that suggests a search for attractive climate and leisure amenities. The second type of mobility, assistance migration, can be traced to low income and the absence of a spouse in the household. It often results in residential and economic dependence – specifically, in co‐residence with adult children or other labor force members. The third type of mobility, migration in response to severe disability and spouse absence, tends to result in nursing home residence. While amenity migration has long been associated with good health and favorable economic status, this analysis reveals that many disabled and lower‐income retirees share the inmigration pattern typical of amenity migrants. In fact, amenity migration is the predominant type of mobility among those migrants with fewer than two unfavorable lifecourse attributes (low income, severe disability and spouse absence). Unlike previous lifecourse typologies, this study shows no clear relationship between moderate disability and co‐residence with adult children. The results suggest that co‐residence is primarily a strategy for reducing living costs rather than a means of coping with moderate disability.

The provincial capital commission in Victoria, British Columbia: the capital greenways programme

The purpose of this paper is to outline the history and role of an arms-length pan governmental agency, the Provincial Capital Commission for Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. This will focus on the Commission's recent work in the development of environmental and leisure amenities which conserve and enhance the special scenic ambiance of Victoria. Numerous initiatives including the Capital Ways and Capital Greenways programmes are discussed.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH INTO LEISURE FOR SOCIAL POLICY: A FRANCO-BRITISH EXAMPLE

ABSTRACT Studies of the leisure policies drafted and enacted in different countries may be expected to reveal new approaches to policy-making or, at least, to bring awareness and understanding of some of the causal factors involved, the range of possible solutions and the ways in which leisure policies are conceived and implemented by governments. Analysis of various aspects of leisure policy in Britain and France provides an interesting example of the ways in which two countries at a similar stage of economic and social development have tackled issues relating to free time, access to and use of leisure amenities. Differences are found in the importance attributed to leisure and in the associated imagery. French governments have a much stronger commitment to leisure policy, and this would seem to be related to the more powerful tradition of state intervention in social life in France. The effects of policy differences on leisure behaviour are difficult to assess, but the comparison does suggest some possible directions for future policies.

A metropolitan urban structure for self-sufficiency

Planning policies are basically concerned with the distribution of resources in general, and land-use in particular. Facilities, such as shelter, leisure amenities or transportation are coordinated within the framework of human settlements’ policies, and implemented in a variety of land-uses in rural, urban or metropolitan areas. Since the beginning of the 20th~century, various planning innovations such as garden cities, new towns, growth centres, action planning, have all been seen in their time as a panacea, roads to utopia. Each, with the relevant theories, has a vital contribution to make in the complex jigsaw of the ultimate pattern of human settlements. In 1976, the Habitat Conference at Vancouver’ focussed attention on some specific problems of human settlements in developing countries. In 1980 the Brandt Report* was concerned with major international development issues. It incorporated a specific brief, “How can these (developing) countries be ensured an economic environment in which they can cope with their own problems?“. The Report struck a note of realism. The needs of developing countries are to be dealt with primarily by the countries themselves. The Report is often criticised for totally ignoring human settlements and their development; local planners were faced with having to develop their own policies and strategies according to their circumstances. Was this a deliberate omission? The message was simple: to follow strategies of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Faced with the problems of shelter, the traditional strategies of self-help, aided self-help, or housing by the people scored a measure of success. In the metropolitan context, with multimillion populations, the problems tended to be more complex, and more difficult to resolve.

Leisure policy in France

In this paper it is argued that, as in other areas of social policy, the State plays an ambivalent role in making provision for leisure. It is suggested that in France more coherent and more ideologically motivated leisure policies have been formulated than in Great Britain over the past half century, and the different phases of French leisure policy are reviewed. The paper shows how, basing its strategies on recommendations from the research it has generated, the State has acted to exercise control over leisure time and to manipulate the provision of leisure amenities. It may be claimed that, by bringing leisure into the political arena, the State has played an important role in shaping attitudes, expectations and the demand for leisure opportunities at the local and national level, although the conflict between social objectives and economic realities may sometimes inhibit full implementation of the policies formulated.