Introduction

This chapter through to Chapter Six draw on new cross-national empirical research on older people living in deprived urban neighbourhoods in England 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 older residents living in some of these localities.

Area profiles

There is some evidence which supports an area effect, specifically, those individuals living in deprived neighbourhoods are presented with more negative challenges than people living in non-deprived areas (Atkinson and Kintrea, 2001; Brown et al, 2004). In addition, the literature suggests that the increased losses associated with later life (for example, in terms of health) can influence well-being (Kunzmann et al, 2000). How these influence the relationship between place and ageing is of significant interest given the trends presented in the previous chapters.

An initial challenge of the present research was to identify comparable areas in England and Canada in which to conduct an empirical study of place and ageing. The study areas in each country were required to meet three criteria: be politically defined (for example, defined electoral boundaries); be located in an inner city; and have particular characteristics associated with deprived urban areas.

Historically, the UK has had a long tradition of poverty and deprivation research (see Booth, 1886–1903; Townsend, 1957). This is in contrast to the situation in Canada, which has tended to be subsumed under the US discourse on income poverty (Yeates and Garner, 1976; Hajnal, 1995). This has resulted in the development of different measures of area-based ‘deprivation’. Despite these differences, broadly comparable indicators could be used for identification of ‘deprived’ neighbourhoods, such as a high percentage of people living in lowincome households, poor-quality housing stock and low educational attainment. This approach ultimately led to the selection of three wards in Manchester, England, and two wards in Vancouver, Canada, in which to conduct the study.