IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/urbpla/v4y2019i2p123-133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Development of ‘Age Appropriate’ Living Environments: Analysis of Two Case Studies from a Social Work Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Carlo Fabian

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

  • Sandra Janett

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

  • Tobias Bischoff

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

  • Riccardo Pardini

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

  • Johanna Leitner

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

  • Carlo Knöpfel

    (Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Fabian & Sandra Janett & Tobias Bischoff & Riccardo Pardini & Johanna Leitner & Carlo Knöpfel, 2019. "The Development of ‘Age Appropriate’ Living Environments: Analysis of Two Case Studies from a Social Work Perspective," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(2), pages 123-133.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v4:y:2019:i:2:p:123-133
    DOI: 10.17645/up.v4i2.2060
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2060
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/up.v4i2.2060?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garrett Wolf & Nathan Mahaffey, 2016. "Designing Difference: Co-Production of Spaces of Potentiality," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 59-67.
    2. Neil Brenner, 2009. "What is critical urban theory?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2-3), pages 198-207, June.
    3. Maree Petersen & John Minnery, 2013. "Understanding Daily Life of Older People in a Residential Complex: The Contribution of Lefebvre's Social Space," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(6), pages 822-844, September.
    4. Kieran Walsh & Thomas Scharf & Norah Keating, 2017. "Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 81-98, March.
    5. Garrett Wolf & Nathan Mahaffey, 2016. "Designing Difference: Co-Production of Spaces of Potentiality," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 59-67.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlo Fabian & Sandra Janett & Tobias Bischoff & Riccardo Pardini & Johanna Leitner & Carlo Knöpfel, 2019. "The Development of ‘Age Appropriate’ Living Environments: Analysis of Two Case Studies from a Social Work Perspective," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(2), pages 123-133.
    2. Christine Mady, 2022. "The Evolutions, Transformations, and Adaptations in Beirut’s Public Spaces," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 116-128.
    3. Daniel Koch, 2018. "On Architectural Space and Modes of Subjectivity: Producing the Material Conditions for Creative-Productive Activity," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(3), pages 70-82.
    4. Ernestina S. Nkooe, 2018. "A Lefebvrian Analysis of Public Spaces in Mangaung, South Africa," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(3), pages 26-39.
    5. Eduardo Mendieta, 2010. "The city to come: Critical urban theory as utopian mapping," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 442-447, August.
    6. Muhammad Ahmad Al-Rashid & Muhammad Nadeem & Tiziana Campisi & Iftikhar Ahmad, 2023. "Exploring the Role of Socio-Demographic Characteristics on Gendered Social Exclusion: Empirical Evidence from Older Adults in Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 847-862, October.
    7. Tomasz Panek & Jan Zwierzchowski, 2022. "Examining the Degree of Social Exclusion Risk of the Population Aged 50 + in the EU Countries Under the Capability Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 973-1002, October.
    8. Rachel Bok, 2021. "Wayfinding in the Long Shadow of City Benchmarking: Or How to Manufacture (an Economy of) Comparability in the Global Urban," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 381-384, March.
    9. Thomas Hansen & Marcela Petrová Kafková & Ruth Katz & Ariela Lowenstein & Sigal Naim & George Pavlidis & Feliciano Villar & Kieran Walsh & Marja Aartsen, 2021. "Exclusion from Social Relations in Later Life: Micro- and Macro-Level Patterns and Correlations in a European Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    10. Peter Marcuse, 2010. "In defense of theory in practice," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1-2), pages 4-12, February.
    11. Prattley, Jennifer & Buffel, Tine & Marshall, Alan & Nazroo, James, 2020. "Area effects on the level and development of social exclusion in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    12. Flora Lu & Emily Murai & Serena Campbell & Hillary Angelo, 2024. "Building more epistemically inclusive and environmentally equitable universities," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(3), pages 511-524, September.
    13. Carijn Beumer, 2017. "Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    14. Cardullo, Paolo, 2017. "Gentrification in the mesh? Ethnography of Open Wireless Network - Deptford," OSF Preprints jm68s, Center for Open Science.
    15. Ling Xu & Jia Li & Weiyu Mao & Iris Chi, 2023. "Exploration of Social Exclusion among Older Chinese Immigrants in the USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    16. Chiara Certomà, 2020. "Digital Social Innovation and Urban Space: A Critical Geography Agenda," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 8-19.
    17. Oren Yiftachel, 2016. "The Aleph—Jerusalem as critical learning," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 483-494, June.
    18. Theresa Enright, 2023. "Art in transit: Mobility, aesthetics and urban development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(1), pages 67-84, January.
    19. Lindsay Blair Howe, 2021. "Thinking through people: The potential of volunteered geographic information for mobility and urban studies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(14), pages 3009-3028, November.
    20. Lena Dahlberg & Kevin J. McKee & Carin Lennartsson & Johan Rehnberg, 2022. "A social exclusion perspective on loneliness in older adults in the Nordic countries," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 175-188, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v4:y:2019:i:2:p:123-133. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.