Planning for population ageing: Ensuring enabling and supportive physical-social environments – Local infrastructure challenges

Abstract

Ensuring enabling and supportive environments is a key global priority in planning for population ageing. This paper examines the challenges local governments face in creating age-friendly physical-social environments. Findings from a recent study of local government and ageing in New South Wales, Australia and subsequent research are reported. The analysis reveals that local councils have differing abilities to provide age-friendly local infrastructure. Challenges are greater overall for regional, rural and fringe councils compared to metropolitan. Timely provision is greatly constrained by insufficient resources, the large scale of the task and the low priority accorded, despite the immediate need for action. A pressing requirement is demonstrated for local councils to give primacy to population ageing in their long-term strategic, asset and financial planning, and to engage in reform measures to assist in financing the cost.

“Engaging in my rural community”: perceptions of people aged 85 years and over

“…Well-designed physical environments that allow older people to easily negotiate whether walking or driving have been identified as essential components supporting community engagement (O’Brien, 2014). The importance of good environmental design is also supported by Van Dijk et al (2015) who asserted that supportive communities provide an environment conducive to older adult’s engagement regardless of physical and/or social abilities.…”

Urban green spaces for the social interaction, health and well-being of older people— An integrated view of urban ecosystem services and socio-environmental justice

“…Accordingly, urban parks should be designed and equipped to attract people of all ages with respect to their specific (health-related) needs. Here, interactional justice is linked to distributive justice because the availability of inclusive design elements in urban green spaces and ensuring ease of access through pedestrian-friendly local street networks and public transport systems regarded as distributive aspects are a precondition for age-related interactional justice (O'Brien, 2014). The inclusive design of urban green spaces, such as parks, relates to a number of particular infrastructure elements and facilities, including pleasant vegetation, trees for shade, age-convenient benches, toilets, shelters from extreme weather situations (e.g., heat) and paved trails for older people (Arnberger et al, 2017;Aspinall et al, 2010;Knight et al, 2018).…”

Socio-Spatial Integration of Older Adults in Four Types of Residential Environments in Israel

“…In Israel, the older population comprises 10.6% of the general population and is expected to increase to 14.6% over the next 20 years (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2014). This expected increase in the percentage of the older population requires greater attention from geographers and gerontologists regarding their socio-spatial integration into their residential environments (Hockey, Phillips, & Walford, 2013; O’Brien, 2014; Warnes, 1990), because socio-spatial integration can affect the well-being of older people, their sense of loneliness, and their quality of life (Costa-Font, 2013; Van der Meer, 2006). Therefore, the main goal of this study was to examine factors, in particular the types of residential environments that predict the socio-spatial integration of older adults in their communities.…”

“…He asserted that the person–environment relationships incorporate social, psychological, and physical dimensions. Therefore, improvement of their residential environment can improve their quality of life and well-being (Costa-Font, 2013; Domanski, Ostrowska, Przybysz, & Romaniuk, 2006; O’Brien, 2014).…”

“…However, the socio-spatial integration of older people by type of residential environment (i.e., rural vs. urban environments) has been barely examined (Herrero & Gracia, 2004). Specifically, the degree to which metropolitan cities, small cities, towns, and small rural communities provide older people with “enabling and supportive physical-social environments” (O’Brien, 2014, p. 221) suitable for proper socio-spatial integration is questionable.…”