Society has reached a historical period in the demographic profile of the population, bringing into focus a need to prepare nations to support ageing and older people. Although Lawton (1980) stated that a decent environment is a right requiring no empirical justification (see quote above), social policy and social change needs to be driven by a better understanding of what constitutes a ‘decent’ environment in which older people are committed to ageing in place. Environmental gerontology can and must play a role in the supply of knowledge to inform the health and well-being of older people and ensure that policy...

The previous chapter reviewed the last 40 years of empirical literature related to our understanding of the relationship between the older person and their environment. While this yielded a breadth of knowledge, there remain some substantial shortfalls within empirical knowledge that require urgent focus, particularly set against a context of other trends, in particular population ageing and urbanisation.

The focus of this chapter is on examining ageing in urban environments and what this means for the person–environmental fit. The first section of the chapter briefly examines trends in both population ageing and urbanisation. The next section discusses factors present...

This chapter through to Chapter Six draw on new cross-national empirical research on older people living in deprived urban neighbourhoods in England¹ and Canada. The aim of this research is to build on the relative paucity of current research on ‘ageing in place’ and ‘place in ageing’ in these types of neighbourhoods, and as a consequence argue for the rethinking of the person–environmental fit paradigm. This chapter presents descriptive profiles of each of the cities and neighbourhoods in which the research was undertaken. It draws on both historical and contemporary sources, in addition to pictorial and descriptive accounts from...

This chapter presents the results and analysis of face-to-face interviews conducted with older people living in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Manchester, England, and Vancouver, Canada. The aim of the chapter is to better understand some of the factors that underpin older people’s desire to age in place despite multiple risks presented in their environment and conversely why others reject ageing in place.

The analysis begins with a summary of the key characteristics of the research participants in the two cities. This profiles the sample in relation to such factors as gender, age, marital status, ethnicity, health status, housing tenure, educational...

This chapter examines how the findings gained from researching ‘place and ageing’ in deprived neighbourhoods build on and progress our knowledge in the field of environmental gerontology. This chapter brings together and summarises the findings from 26 interviews in Manchester and 26 interviews in Vancouver – as expressed through eight case studies, 44 short biographies (Appendices A and B) and three participants’ photographs and descriptive text. It proposes a reconceptualisation of factors important in the person–environment relationship; such as the consideration of temporal dimensions (for example, past, present and future) and intervening variables (for example, such as religion and...

Part One of this book sought to revisit our thinking and knowledge on the person–environment fit. This primarily examined the contribution of Lawton’s Ecological Model of Ageing and Rowles’ concepts of insideness. Part Two aimed to fill gaps in knowledge related to understanding the experiences of older people living in urban neighbourhoods – in particular deprived inner-city areas – and challenge current thinking about the relationship between the older person and their environment. Part Three aims to refocus the person–environment fit by presenting the next steps and the way forward. The focus of this chapter will be on...

This chapter considers current influences on and possible future opportunities and challenges to the person–environment relationship. The aim of the chapter is to highlight some of the externalities acting on the person–environment relationship and factors that might play a role in refocusing the way in which we have come to understand place and ageing. This will explorecurrentinfluences and how these might impact on interpretations and perceptions of place and ageing. In addition, it will addressfuturefactors that might work to challenge individuals’ emotive and physical attachment to place or equally present new opportunities to advance...