Leisure-related mobility of elderly people: ways to sustainability

Owing to grown life expectancy as well as increasing financial scope, car ownership and possession of driving licences, the elderly of today have numerous opportunities regarding their leisure activities. Serious health problems and social constraints are generally infrequent before the age of about 80. Thus, the first 10-20 years of retirement are characterized by good health and the absence of occupational and/or family commitments, allowing for an active leisure life. Leisure-related mobility among the elderly relies increasingly on private vehicles. Car use is the basis for a wider activity space, including locations that are far away and/or badly accessible by means of public transport. The resulting increase in motorized leisure-related traffic has negative ecological impacts. Thus, the question arises of how the elder population's leisure mobility can take place in a more sustainable manner. Within the FRAME project, 4,500 people aged 60+ were interviewed regarding their leisure activities. The empirical results give detailed information about determinants of and motives for leisure-related mobility. While leisure activities are largely determined by individual factors like health or car availability, other factors like settlement patterns and local leisure infrastructure also have significant influence. Therefore samples were taken from urban, suburban and rural areas. The FRAME household survey shows in how far elderly people from diverse sample areas differ with regard to their leisure activities, means of transport and distances travelled. To start with, the results show differences between sample groups from urban, suburban and rural areas. In addition, there are also variations within these three spatial categories. The paper intends to illustrate to what extent leisure-related mobility of the elderly is influenced by diverse spatial structures as well as the personal situation. We will discuss how individual residential settings affect leisure activities. Moreover, we will investigate the relation between infrastructure (local offers in leisure activities, transportation, etc.) and participation in local leisure activities and the selection of distant localities respectively. The results show, not surprisingly, large variations due to diverse equipments with leisure facilities. Interestingly, we also found substantial qualitative differences between urban, suburban and rural facilities resulting in distinct spatial orientation patterns. The results illustrating the relationship between spatial context and leisure-related traffic are used to evaluate which settlement structure is favourable to sustainable leisure mobility. We will identify local settings minimising leisure-related traffic and thus pollution. This aspect bears particular importance as the recreational wants of the growing number of elderly people have to be supplied. Attempting to mediate ecological and social demands, the paper aims to identify a set of conditions for the location and design of leisure facilities. These should promote sustainable mobility.

The role of language skills in the settling-in process - experiences of highly skilled migrants' accompanying partners in Germany and the UK

The role of the family in the international migration of highly skilled migrants has often been disregarded. Highly skilled labour migrants follow a concrete job offer abroad and are structurally integrated into the new environment through the work place. On the contrary, the migration of family members is subject to different conditions since most accompanying partners initially do not work. However, accompanying partners are described as managers of the settling-in process of the whole family [Yeoh, Brenda, and Katie Willis. 2004. Constructing Masculinities in Transnational Space: Singapore Men on the Regional Beat'. In Transnational Spaces, edited by Peter Jackson, Philip Crang, and Claire Dwyer, 147-163. London: Routledge] and their experiences can be crucial for the duration of their stay. Our paper explores the experiences of mobility of highly skilled migrants' accompanying partners in Germany and in the UK with regard to their strategies and practices during the settling-in process. The main focus is on the role of language, the establishment of new social networks and labour market participation. The paper draws on the concept of capital accumulation and conversion [Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. The Forms of Capital. In Education: Culture, Economy, and Society, edited by Albert Henry Halsey, 46-58. NewYork: Oxford University Press] and asks how partners make use of their cultural capital language after migration. Our paper is based on empirical studies in Germany and in the UK, which focus on the migration and settling-in processes of highly skilled professionals and their families

TRANSLOCAL LIFE AND INTEGRATION OF HIGHLY-SKILLED MIGRANTS IN GERMANY

This paper addresses the living situations of highly-skilled migrants in Germany, taking managers and persons working in the arts in North Rhine-Westphalian cities as examples. With reference to integration concepts as well as approaches to transnational migration and translocality, the results of qualitative guideline-based interviews conducted with these groups are presented. The focus is on the highly-skilled migrants' professional work conditions, their translocal mobility practices, as well as their shaping of everyday practices and networks in their German places of residence. The depicted networks and translocal practices of highly-skilled migrants reveal existing integration options and aspirations. Both, options and aspirations, are limited both by the temporality of their stays, their heavy workloads, their often limited knowledge of the German language, their focus on international networks and only little interest for social contacts on the part of the host society

Lost in transition? Integration of refugees into the local housing market in Germany

The integration of a high number of refugees in Germany is intensely discussed in political and civil society. The aim of this article is to explore refugees' paths into the housing market and the impact on refugees' integration into urban society. For a comprehensive insight into the housing situation of the refugees, we have chosen the city of Cologne because it is one of the four largest German cities. To highlight different perspectives, we conducted guided interviews with representatives of local governmental and nongovernmental institutions that are engaged with the housing situation of refugees. Additionally, we interviewed 21 refugees mainly from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The statements of both groups show a difficult transition from refugee accommodation into the housing market. In the highly competitive situation, refugees rarely manage to access this market through common paths. Social networks proved to be most important to finding an apartment