Place (in)securities: older adults’ perceptions across urban environments in the United Kingdom ((In)seguridades de lugar. Percepciones de las personas mayores en distintos entornos urbanos del Reino Unido)
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online May, 2020
Place (in)securities: older adults’ perceptions across urban environments in the United Kingdom ((In)seguridades de lugar. Percepciones de las personas mayores en distintos entornos urbanos del Reino Unido)
This paper explores empirical accounts of perceived insecurities and accompanying issues that make urban place problematic and can impact older adults’ well-being and overall quality of life. Findings reported derive from the project ‘Place-Making with Older People: Towards Age-Friendly Communities’ which investigates both barriers and facilitators to developing age-friendly cities. Drawing on interviews with older adults in three cities in the United Kingdom (UK), the analysis demonstrates that physical and social vulnerabilities, along with the characteristics of the built and social environment, play a role in influencing older adults’ behaviours, routines and habits in the community. The results are discussed with a view of influencing practice and policy priorities relating to age-friendly cities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllikM.KearnsA. (2016). “There goes the fear”: Feelings of safety at home and in the neighborhood: The role of personal, social, and service factors. Journal of Community Psychology, 45, 543–563.
2.
AminA. (2006). The good city. Urban Studies, 43, 1009–1023.
3.
BaumF.PalmerC. (2002). “Opportunity structures”: Urban landscape, social capital and health promotion in Australia. Health Promotion International, 17, 351–361.
4.
BornioliA.ParkhurstG.MorganP. L. (2018, August). The psychological wellbeing benefits of place engagement during walking in urban environments: A qualitative photo-elicitation study. Health & Place, 53, 228–236.
5.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.
6.
BuffelT.De DonderL.PhillipsonC.De WitteN.DuryS.VertéD. (2014). Place attachment among older adults living in four communities in Flanders, Belgium. Housing Studies, 29, 800–822.
7.
BuffelT. (2018). Social research and co-production with older people: Developing age-friendly communities. Journal of Aging Studies, 44, 52–60.
8.
CattellV.DinesN.GeslerW.CurtisS. (2008). Mingling, observing, and lingering: Everyday public spaces and their implications for well-being and social relations. Health & Place, 14, 544–561.
9.
CreswellJ. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
DayR. (2008). Local environments and older people’s health: Dimensions from a comparative qualitative study in Scotland. Health & Place, 14, 299–312.
11.
De DonderL.BuffelT.DuryS.De WitteN.VertéD. (2013). Perceptual quality of neighbourhood design and feelings of unsafety. Ageing and Society, 33, 917–937.
12.
FarrallS. D.JacksonJ.GrayE. (2009). Social order and the fear of crime in contemporary times. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
13.
FinlayJ.FrankeT.McKayH.Sims-GouldJ. (2015). Therapeutic landscapes and wellbeing in later life: Impacts of blue and green spaces for older adults. Health & Place, 34, 97–106.
14.
FinlayJ.GauglerJ. E.KaneR. L. (2018). Ageing in the margins: Expectations of and struggles for ‘a good place to grow old’ among low-income older Minnesotans. Ageing and Society, 1–25. doi:10.1017/S0144686X1800123X
15.
GoldsmithS. (2011). Designing for the disabled: The new paradigm. London: Routledge.
16.
HardynsW.PauwelsL. (2010). Theoretical perspectives on community social cohesion and crime. In PauwelsL.HardynsW.van De VeldeM. (Eds.), Social disorganisation, offending, fear and victimisation: Findings from Belgian studies on the urban context of crime (pp. 59–76). The Hague: Boom Juridische Uitgevers.
17.
LundH. (2002). Pedestrian environments and sense of community. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 21, 301–312.
18.
McGinnA. P.EvensonK. R.HerringA. H.HustonS. L.RodriguezD. A. (2008). The association of perceived and objectively measured crime with physical activity: A cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 5, 117–131.
19.
MichaelY. L.GreenM. K.FarquharS. A. (2006). Neighborhood design and active aging. Health & Place, 12, 734–740.
20.
PainR. (1997). Social geographies of women’s fear of crime. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 22, 231–244.
21.
PhillipsonC. (2007). The ‘elected’ and the ‘excluded’: Sociological perspectives on the experience of place and community in old age. Ageing and Society, 27, 321–342.
22.
RowlesG. D. (1983). Place and personal identity in old age: Observations from appalachia. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3, 299–313.
23.
SampsonR. J. (2012). Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
24.
SandercockL. (2000). When strangers become neighbours: Managing cities of difference. Planning Theory & Practice, 1, 13–30.
SkoganW. G.MaxfieldM. G. (1981). Coping with crime: Individual and neighborhood reactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
27.
Valera-PertegasS.Guàrdia-OlmosJ. (2017). Vulnerability and perceived insecurity in the public spaces of Barcelona. Psyecology, 8, 177–204.
28.
VarelaC. I. (2008). La cuestión de la “sensación de inseguridad” en adultos mayores de la ciudad de Buenos Aires: Posibilidades de apropiación de los espacios públicos desde una perspectiva etaria. 2. doi:10.4000/pontourbe.1910
29.
WarrM. (1984). Fear of victimization: Why are the elderly more afraid?Social Science Quarterly, 65, 681–702.
30.
WilesJ. L.LeibingA.GubermanN.ReeveJ.AllenR. E. S. (2012). The meaning of “aging in place” to older people. The Gerontologist, 52, 357–366.
31.
WoodL.ShannonT.BulsaraM.PikoraT.McCormackG.Giles-CortiB. (2008). The anatomy of the safe and social suburb: An exploratory study of the built environment, social capital and residents’ perceptions of safety. Health & Place, 14, 15–31.
