Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework

As a concept, social exclusion has considerable potential to explain and respond to disadvantage in later life. However, in the context of ageing populations, the construct remains ambiguous. A disjointed evidence-base, spread across disparate disciplines, compounds the challenge of developing a coherent understanding of exclusion in older age. This article addresses this research deficit by presenting the findings of a two-stage scoping review encompassing seven separate reviews of the international literature pertaining to old-age social exclusion. Stage one involved a review of conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion, identifying conceptual understandings and key domains of later-life exclusion. Stage two involved scoping reviews on each domain (six in all). Stage one identified six conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion and six common domains across these frameworks: neighbourhood and community; services, amenities and mobility; social relations; material and financial resources; socio-cultural aspects; and civic participation. International literature concentrated on the first four domains, but indicated a general lack of research knowledge and of theoretical development. Drawing on all seven scoping reviews and a knowledge synthesis, the article presents a new definition and conceptual framework relating to old-age exclusion

Who is to blame for the decline of large housing estates? An exploration of socio-demographic and ethnic change

In the 1960s and 1970s, all over Europe housing estates emerged that were very similar with respect to construction methods and urban design. At the same time, housing estates across Europe did not all follow the same trajectory after their completion. This divergence occurred because the main reasons for their deterioration and social degradation are exogenous factors, not internal factors. Of course, it makes a difference whether the physical quality of the dwellings was good and whether the spatial planning was adequate. But even well-designed housing estates are subject to social degradation due to competition with newer neighbourhoods that are usually added at the top of the market and more geared to contemporary housing preferences. In Western Europe, this process of relative depreciation is further exacerbated by the prioritisation of owner-occupation leading to residualisation of the social rented sector. The social and ethnic transformation of large housing estates is not only the consequence of planning and housing policies but also of external factors like immigration and economic decline. Most European countries have witnessed a substantial inflow of immigrants in the previous decades, and many of these find their way to large housing estates. Next to that, the social decline of housing estates is often related to a shrinking local economy. Policies aimed at reversing the decline hurt the sitting population more often than it helped them

Who is to blame for the decline of large housing estates? An exploration of socio-demographic and ethnic change

In the 1960s and 1970s, all over Europe housing estates emerged that were very similar with respect to construction methods and urban design. At the same time, housing estates across Europe did not all follow the same trajectory after their completion. This divergence occurred because the main reasons for their deterioration and social degradation are exogenous factors, not internal factors. Of course, it makes a difference whether the physical quality of the dwellings was good and whether the spatial planning was adequate. But even well-designed housing estates are subject to social degradation due to competition with newer neighbourhoods that are usually added at the top of the market and more geared to contemporary housing preferences. In Western Europe, this process of relative depreciation is further exacerbated by the prioritisation of owner-occupation leading to residualisation of the social rented sector. The social and ethnic transformation of large housing estates is not only the consequence of planning and housing policies but also of external factors like immigration and economic decline. Most European countries have witnessed a substantial inflow of immigrants in the previous decades, and many of these find their way to large housing estates. Next to that, the social decline of housing estates is often related to a shrinking local economy. Policies aimed at reversing the decline hurt the sitting population more often than it helped them

Modernist housing estates in the Baltic countries: formation, current challenges and future prospects

This opening chapter of the book Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries: The Legacy of Central Planning in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania presents seven important takeaway messages distilled from the chapters of this volume that, taken together, provide a comprehensive overview of the formation, current challenges and future prospects of large housing estates in the Baltic countries. Modernist housing built between the 1960s and the early 1990s forms a large share of the housing stock in the capital cities of the Baltic states. Their sheer size suggests that various methods of reconstruction, rather than downsizing or even demolition, would be among the ideal strategies for their future development. Today, reconstruction of these districts and housing contained therein is mainly the responsibility of private owners, since the public sector relinquished most of the housing sector in the early 1990s. Private apartment owners, organised into building-based flat-owners’ associations, often lack the ability to undertake comprehensive renovation of apartment buildings and regeneration of surrounding neighbourhoods. For viable solutions to emerge, the public sector must again assume a prominent role. A comprehensive renovation strategy must be structured to include urban space even larger than individual apartments or apartment buildings and encompass (a) improving the physical environment of the apartment buildings and neighbourhoods; (b) enhancing the social mobility and social integration of the inhabitants (since many possess an ethnic minority background); and (c) facilitating integrated connectivity between housing estates and surrounding metropolitan space through transport, jobs, services and various other activities