ABSTRACT

This article offers the roundup of problems of demographic aging and mobility, but also gives a touch of question about longevity and quality of life, that gain ground in connection with theme of individual aging. SIZE – “Life quality of senior citizens in relation to mobility conditions” (project number QLK6-CT-2002-02399) was a project in the framework of the specific research and technological development programme “Quality of life and management of living resources”, key action 6 “The ageing population and disabilities” in EU's Fifth Framework Programme.

The project SIZE had a life-span of 3 years and is divided into 4 research areas: State-of-the art and preparatory activities, qualitative studies, standardised survey and finalisation and distribution of results.

Key words: accessibility, cycling, demographical changes, elderly drivers, mobility, quality of life, senior citizens, social exclusion, transport and walking.

Introduction

Demographic changes in Czech Republic

Demographic change is widely considered to be one on the main challenges for Europe and its societies now and in the near future. In both West and East Europe the population is changing – growing older; the number of people over retirement age is increasing rapidly while the number of those very old is growing even faster. But not only are the elderly increasingly very old, they are increasingly women – this is the “feminisation of later life/ageing”. A substantial portion of the elderly population are women and many live alone; a significant sub-set of those women live in or near poverty.