IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v54y2017i7p1692-1714.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The subjective well-being of older adults in Shanghai: The role of residential environment and individual resources

Author

Listed:
  • Yafei Liu

    (Utrecht University, Netherlands)

  • Martin Dijst

    (Utrecht University, Netherlands)

  • Stan Geertman

    (Utrecht University, Netherlands)

Abstract

As a rapidly ageing population becomes an increasingly serious social challenge for Chinese megacities, issues affecting older adults’ subjective well-being (SWB) attract greater concern. However, it is difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of older adults’ SWB, since most SWB theories focus only on specific factors. Moreover, residential environmental factors are hardly considered in studies of older adults’ SWB. In this paper we therefore investigate the effects of residential environment and individual resources on the SWB of older adults in Shanghai, using the integrative theoretical framework proposed by Lindenberg. We investigate the relationships between resources (residential environment and individual resources), needs satisfaction and SWB using multiple regression analysis. Our results show that the residential environment exerts a stronger impact on SWB than individual resources. Good quality residential building, good accessibility to medical and financial facilities, higher economic status of a neighbourhood, and a lower proportion of older adults in a neighbourhood are important environmental correlates of SWB. Health appears to be the most significant individual resource; other important individual resources include household income, a high-skilled occupation, a job in the public sector and living with grandchildren. Comfort is the most important basic need for older adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Yafei Liu & Martin Dijst & Stan Geertman, 2017. "The subjective well-being of older adults in Shanghai: The role of residential environment and individual resources," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(7), pages 1692-1714, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:7:p:1692-1714
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098016630512
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098016630512
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098016630512?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. Phillips, David R. & Siu, Oi-ling & Yeh, Anthony G.O. & Cheng, Kevin H.C., 2005. "The impacts of dwelling conditions on older persons' psychological well-being in Hong Kong: the mediating role of residential satisfaction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(12), pages 2785-2797, June.
    2. repec:bla:kyklos:v:54:y:2001:i:2-3:p:317-42 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Parra, Diana C. & Gomez, Luis F. & Sarmiento, Olga L. & Buchner, David & Brownson, Ross & Schimd, Thomas & Gomez, Viviola & Lobelo, Felipe, 2010. "Perceived and objective neighborhood environment attributes and health related quality of life among the elderly in Bogotá, Colombia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1070-1076, April.
    4. Bibing Dai & Baoshan Zhang & Juan Li, 2013. "Protective Factors for Subjective Well-being in Chinese Older Adults: The Roles of Resources and Activity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1225-1239, August.
    5. Susanne Nordbakke & Tim Schwanen, 2015. "Transport, unmet activity needs and wellbeing in later life: exploring the links," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1129-1151, November.
    6. Siegwart Lindenberg, 2001. "Intrinsic Motivation in a New Light," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 317-342, May.
    7. Judith Banister & David E. Bloom & Larry Rosenberg, 2012. "Population Aging and Economic Growth in China," International Economic Association Series, in: Masahiko Aoki & Jinglian Wu (ed.), The Chinese Economy, chapter 6, pages 114-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Feng, Jianxi & Dijst, Martin & Wissink, Bart & Prillwitz, Jan, 2013. "The impacts of household structure on the travel behaviour of seniors and young parents in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 117-126.
    9. Anna Nieboer & Siegwart Lindenberg & Anne Boomsma & Alinda Bruggen, 2005. "Dimensions Of Well-Being And Their Measurement: The Spf-Il Scale," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 313-353, September.
    10. Tim Schwanen & Donggen Wang, 2014. "Well-Being, Context, and Everyday Activities in Space and Time," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 104(4), pages 833-851, July.
    11. Sheung-Tak Cheng & Coty K. L. Lee & Alfred C. M. Chan & Edward M. F. Leung & Jik-Joen Lee, 2009. "Social Network Types and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(6), pages 713-722.
    12. Lindsey Baker & Lawrence Cahalin & Kerstin Gerst & Jeffrey Burr, 2005. "Productive Activities And Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults: The Influence Of Number Of Activities And Time Commitment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 431-458, September.
    13. Joan Costa-Font, 2013. "Housing-related Well-being in Older People: The Impact of Environmental and Financial Influences," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(4), pages 657-673, March.
    14. Johan Ormel & Siegwart Lindenberg & Nardi Steverink & Lois Verbrugge, 1999. "Subjective Well-Being and Social Production Functions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 61-90, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qian Jin & Philip Pearce & Hui Hu, 2018. "The Study on the Satisfaction of the Elderly People Living with Their Children," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 1159-1172, December.
    2. Florian W. Bartholomae & Chang Woon Nam & Alina Schoenberg, 2017. "Urban Resurgence as a Consumer City: A Case Study for Weimar in Eastern Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 6610, CESifo.

    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. Yue, Yafei & Yang, Dongfeng & Owen, Neville & Van Dyck, Delfien, 2022. "The built environment and mental health among older adults in Dalian: The mediating role of perceived environmental attributes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    2. Yafei Liu & Martin Dijst & Stan Geertman & Can Cui, 2017. "Social Sustainability in an Ageing Chinese Society: Towards an Integrative Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Holger Lengfeld & Jessica Ordemann, 2016. "The long shadow of occupation: Volunteering in retirement," Rationality and Society, , vol. 28(1), pages 3-23, February.
    4. Jianxi Feng & Shuangshuang Tang & Xiaowei Chuai, 2018. "The impact of neighbourhood environments on quality of life of elderly people: Evidence from Nanjing, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(9), pages 2020-2039, July.
    5. Seung Pil Lee, 2020. "Sustainable Reciprocity Mechanism of Social Initiatives in Sport: The Mediating Effect of Gratitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Sanne J. Kuipers & Anna P. Nieboer & Jane M. Cramm, 2020. "The Need for Co-Creation of Care with Multi-Morbidity Patients—A Longitudinal Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-11, May.
    7. Timothée Cuignet & Camille Perchoux & Geoffrey Caruso & Olivier Klein & Sylvain Klein & Basile Chaix & Yan Kestens & Philippe Gerber, 2020. "Mobility among older adults: Deconstructing the effects of motility and movement on wellbeing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(2), pages 383-401, February.
    8. Nieboer, Anna P. & Koolman, Xander & Stolk, Elly A., 2010. "Preferences for long-term care services: Willingness to pay estimates derived from a discrete choice experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1317-1325, May.
    9. Peter Meer, 2014. "Gender, Unemployment and Subjective Well-Being: Why Being Unemployed Is Worse for Men than for Women," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 23-44, January.
    10. Zhen Zhang & Jianxin Zhang, 2015. "Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being Among Retirees in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 143-160, August.
    11. Annesha Enam & Karthik C. Konduri & Naveen Eluru & Srinath Ravulaparthy, 2018. "Relationship between well-being and daily time use of elderly: evidence from the disabilities and use of time survey," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 1783-1810, November.
    12. Vera L. Buijs & Bertus F. Jeronimus & Gerine M. A. Lodder & Nardi Steverink & Peter Jonge, 2021. "Social Needs and Happiness: A Life Course Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1953-1978, April.
    13. Morris, Eric A., 2015. "Should we all just stay home? Travel, out-of-home activities, and life satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 519-536.
    14. Lotte Vestjens & Jane Murray Cramm & Anna Petra Nieboer, 2021. "A cross-sectional study investigating the relationships between self-management abilities, productive patient-professional interactions, and well-being of community-dwelling frail older people," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 427-437, September.
    15. Ming Guan & Hongyi Guan, 2024. "Sense of community and residential well-being among rural-urban migrants in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Dimas Bayu Endrayana Dharmowijoyo & Yusak Octavius Susilo & Tri Basuki Joewono, 2021. "Residential Locations and Health Effects on Multitasking Behaviours and Day Experiences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-21, October.
    17. Arif Budiarto & Nur Shalin Abdi & Dimas Bayu Endrayana Dharmowijoyo & Nursitihazlin Ahmad Termida & Basil David Daniel & Nur Sabahiah Abdul Sukor & Liza Evianti Tanjung, 2022. "Effects of Changes in Discretionary Trips and Online Activities on Social and Mental Health during Two Different Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-24, October.
    18. Anna P. Nieboer & Jane M. Cramm, 2018. "Age-Friendly Communities Matter for Older People’s Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(8), pages 2405-2420, December.
    19. Dumitru Miron & Monica Aureliana Petcu & Maria Iulia David-Sobolevschi & Radu Cezar Cojocariu, 2021. "A Muldimensional Approach of the Relationship Between Teleworking and Employees Well-Being – Romania During the Pandemic Generated by the Sars-Cov-2 Virus," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 23(58), pages 586-586, August.
    20. He, Sylvia Y. & Thøgersen, John & Cheung, Yannie H.Y. & Yu, Alesia H.Y., 2020. "Ageing in a transit-oriented city: Satisfaction with transport, social inclusion and wellbeing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 85-94.

    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:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:7:p:1692-1714. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.