Geographical Perspectives on Transport and Ageing

In terms of ageing, we are living in unprecedented times. People across the globe are living longer than ever before and societies are ageing at increasing rates. In low to middle income countries reductions in mortality at young ages have fuelled this growth. A person born today in Brazil, for example, can expect to live 20 years longer than someone born 50 years ago (WHO, 2015). For the first time life expectancy across the globe is over 60 years of age. In high Income countries, someone born now can expect to live up to around 80 years of age on average (ONS, 2015). There are not simply a growing number of older people, but also a growing number of older people as a total percentage of the population due to people living longer and declining birth rates in many countries. Across Europe, for example, people aged over 65 years will account for 29.5% of the population in 2060 compared to around 19% now (EUROSTAT, 2017). The share of those aged 80 years or above across Europe will almost triple by 2060 (EUROSTAT, 2017)The macro level demographics and associated trends mask big differences within the ageing populations. There can be as much as 10 years difference in life expectancy within high income countries, for example in the UK someone born a baby boy born in Kensington and Chelsea has a life expectancy of 83.3 years, compared with a boy born in Glasgow who has a life expectancy of 10 years lower (73.0 years) (ONS, 2015). For newborn baby girls, life expectancy is highest in Chiltern at 86.7 years and 8 years lower Glasgow at 78.5 years (ONS, 2015; NRS, 2016). There is also considerable variation within cities, spatially and socially.This volume brings together contributions from a broad range of human geographers, with different disciplinary perspectives of transport and ageing. This chapter outlines some of the key contemporary issues for an ageing society in terms of transport and mobility, highlights the importance of considering transport and mobility for ageing populations and outlines the contribution that a geographical approach can offer to studies of transport and ageing

Co-designing Urban Living Solutions to Improve Older People’s Mobility and Well-Being

Mobility is a key aspect of active ageing enabling participation and autonomy into later life. Remaining active brings multiple physical but also social benefits leading to higher levels of well-being. With globally increasing levels of urbanisation alongside demographic shifts meaning in many parts of the world this urban population will be older people, the challenge is how cities should evolve to enable so-called active ageing. This paper reports on a co-design study with 117 participants investigating the interaction of existing urban spaces and infrastructure on mobility and well-being for older residents (aged 55 + years) in three cities. A mixed method approach was trialled to identify locations beneficial to subjective well-being and participant-led solutions to urban mobility challenges. Spatial analysis was used to identify key underlying factors in locations and infrastructure that promoted or compromised mobility and well-being for participants. Co-designed solutions were assessed for acceptability or co-benefits amongst a wider cross-section of urban residents (n = 233) using online and face-to-face surveys in each conurbation. Our analysis identified three critical intersecting and interacting thematic problems for urban mobility amongst older people: The quality of physical infrastructure; issues around the delivery, governance and quality of urban systems and services; and the attitudes and behaviors of individuals that older people encounter. This identified complexity reinforces the need for policy responses that may not necessarily involve design or retrofit measures, but instead might challenge perceptions and behaviors of use and access to urban space. Our co-design results further highlight that solutions need to move beyond the generic and placeless, instead embedding specific locally relevant solutions in inherently geographical spaces, populations and processes to ensure they relate to the intricacies of place

Universal Design as a Way of Thinking About Mobility

The concept of universal design in reference to a strategy to counter social exclusion was first coined by the architect Ronald Mace. He defined Universal design (UD) as “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”. This paper will look into the use of UD as a policy objective for transport policy, using Norwegian experience as an example. UD was adopted as one of the four major policy objectives in Norwegian transport policy in 2009. However, from 2018 onwards UD is no longer a main policy objective. This experience with UD as a policy objective is used as an empirical backdrop for a more principal discussion on the usefulness of UD in transport and mobility. I conclude by pointing at UD as a useful vision, but difficult policy objective

Mobility and Ageing: a review of interactions between transport and technology from the perspective of older people

This chapter is an overview of the issues for older people in relation to transport and technology. I demonstrate that mobility and technology are intertwined in complex ways, and that non-transport technologies may impact older people’s experience and achievement of mobility. Understanding the nexus between mobility, information and communication technologies and older people can help us design accessible and acceptable technologies to support well-being and health in older age. This matters because new ICT is increasingly relied on to support service delivery in both the public and private sectors. Older people are heterogeneous, with different attitudes, levels of income and education affecting technology uptake. Age-related cognitive and physical impairments can also impact on technology adoption. The chapter concludes with how age-friendly design principles can support active ageing