Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:57:59.426Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Socio-spatial aspects of ageing in an urban context: an example from three Czech Republic cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

LUCIE GALČANOVÁ  and
DANA SÝKOROVÁ
LUCIE GALČANOVÁ*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
DANA SÝKOROVÁ
Affiliation:
Philosophical Faculty, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
*
Address for correspondence: Lucie Galčanová, Office for Population Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how older people make sense of the changing urban environment – that is, how they experience, perceive and interpret their everyday interaction with its materiality, as well as their social ties, networks and relations. The results, based on seven focus groups and 37 individual in-depth interviews with older residents of the three most populous Czech cities, show how older people maintain the continuity of their activities, autonomy and independence within the limits of their personal resources in an active relationship with a changing urban environment and within the post-socialist context. The research supports the results of former studies that emphasise the ability of older adults to negotiate their position and actively cope with change while they age in place.

Keywords

ageingurban environmentsocial changepost-socialist cityqualitative researchCzech Republic
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , July 2015 , pp. 1200 - 1220
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, G. J. and Phillips, D. R. (eds) 2005. Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy, Practice. Routledge Studies in Human Geography, Routledge, Oxford.Google Scholar
Bamford, G. 2005. Co-housing for older people: housing innovation in the Netherlands and Denmark. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 24, 1, 44–6.Google Scholar
Birren, J. E. 1969. The aged in cities. The Gerontologist, 9, 3, 163–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borén, T. and Gentile, M. 2007. Metropolitan processes in post-communist states: an introduction. Geografiska Annaler: Human Geography, 89B, 2, 95–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 2, 77–101.Google Scholar
Burns, V. F., Lavoie, J.-P. and Rose, D. 2012. Revisiting the role of neighbourhood change in social exclusion and inclusion of older people. Journal of Aging Research, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carp, F. M. 1975. Ego-defense or cognitive consistency effects of environmental evaluations. Journal of Gerontology, 30, 6, 707–11.Google Scholar
Collins, R. 1981. On the microfoundations of macrosociology. American Journal of Sociology, 86, 5, 984–1014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Czech Statistical Office 2011. Demography Yearbook of the Cities (2001–2010). Czech Statistical Office, Prague.Google Scholar
Davis, M. 2002. Dead Cities. New Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ekstrom, M. 1994. Elderly people's experiences of housing renewal and forced relocation: social theories and contextual analysis in explanations of emotional experiences. Housing Studies, 9, 3, 369–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferenčuhová, S. 2012. Urban theory beyond the ‘East/West divide’? Cities and urban research in postsocialist Europe. In Edensor, T. and Jayne, M. (eds), Urban Theory Beyond the West: A World of Cities. Routledge, London, 65–74.Google Scholar
Fokkema, T., Gierveld, J. and Nijkamp, P. 1996. Big cities, big problems: reason for the elderly to move? Urban Studies, 33, 2, 353–77.Google Scholar
Gabriel, Z. and Bowling, A. 2004. Quality of life from the perspectives of older people. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 675–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, H. 1972. People and Plans: Essays on Urban Problems and Solutions. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Gieryn, T. F. 2000. A space for place in sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 1, 463–96.Google Scholar
Gillham, B. 2000. The Research Interview. Continuum, London.Google Scholar
Haase, A., Grossmann, K. and Steinführer, A. 2012. Transitory urbanites: new actors of residential change in Polish and Czech inner cities. Cities, 29, 5, 318–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haase, A., Steinführer, A., Kabisch, S., Grossmann, K. and Hall, R. 2011. Residential Change and Demographic Challenge. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.Google Scholar
Hamnett, Ch. 2000. Gentrification, postindustrialism, and industrial and occupational restructuring in global cities. In Bridge, G. and Watson, S. (eds), A Companion to the City. Blackwell, Malden, Massachusetts, 231–41.Google Scholar
Hodge, N. 2008. Evaluating Lifeworld as an emancipatory methodology. Disability and Society, 23, 1, 29–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hörschelmann, K. and Stenning, A. 2008. Ethnographies of postsocialist change. Progress in Human Geography, 32, 3, 339–61.Google Scholar
Hruška-Tvrdý, L., Illner, M., Musil, J., Keller, J., Kovář, J., Šotkovský, I. and Ivan, I. 2010. Industriální město v postindustriální společnosti. 1. díl [The Industrial City in a Post-industrial Society – Part I]. VŠB, Technická univerzita, Ostrava, Czech Republic.Google Scholar
Kearns, R. A. and Andrews, G. J. 2005. Placing ageing. Positionings in the study of older people. In Andrews, G. J. and Phillips, D. R. (eds), Ageing and Place. Perspectives, Policy, Practice. Routledge, London, 13–23.Google Scholar
Kendig, H. 2003. Directions in environmental gerontology: a multidisciplinary field. The Gerontologist, 43, 5, 611–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovács, Z. 2010. Housing conditions of elderly in post-socialist cities. In Kovács, Z. (ed.), Challenges of Ageing in Villages and Cities: The Central European Experience. Department of Economic and Social Geography, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, 68–86.Google Scholar
Krause, N. 2006. Gratitude toward god, stress, and health in late life. Research on Aging, 28, 2, 163–83.Google Scholar
Kuchařová, V. 2002. Život ve stáří. Zpráva o výsledcích empirického šetření [Life in Old Age. Research Report] . Socioklub – RILSA, Prague.Google Scholar
Laws, G. 1993. ‘The land of old age’: society's changing attitudes toward urban built environments for elderly people. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 83, 4, 672–93.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. 1978. Institutions and alternatives for older people. Health and Social Work, 3, 2, 108–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, M. P. and Kleban, M. H. 1971. The aged resident of the inner city. The Gerontologist, 11, 4, 277–83.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Simon, B. 1968. The ecology of social relationships in housing for the elderly. The Gerontologist, 8, 2, 108–15.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. 1980. Environment and Aging. Wadsworth, Belmont, California.Google Scholar
Lux, M. 2003. Efficiency and effectiveness of housing policies in the Central and Eastern Europe countries. European Journal of Housing Policy, 3, 3, 243–65.Google Scholar
Lux, M. 2005. O spokojenosti českých občanů s užívaným bydlením [On housing satisfaction among Czech citizens]. Sociologický časopis [Czech Sociological Review] , 41, 2, 227–52.Google Scholar
Lux, M. and Mikeszová, M. 2012. Property restitution and private rental housing in transition: the case of the Czech Republic. Housing Studies, 27, 1, 77–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lux, M. and Sunega, P. 2010. The future of housing systems after the transition – the case of the Czech Republic. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 43, 2, 221–31.Google Scholar
Mulíček, O. 2009. Prostorové vzorce postindustriálního Brna [Spatial patterns of the post-industrial city: case of Brno]. In Ferenčuhová, S., Hledíková, M., Galčanová, L. and Vacková, B. (eds), Město: proměnlivá ne/samozřejmost [City: Variable Not/Obvious] . Pavel Mervart, Masaryk University, Červený Kostelec, Brno, Czech Republic, 153–75.Google Scholar
Mulíček, O. and Olšová, I. 2002. Město Brno a důsledky různých forem urbanizace [The city of Brno and the consequences of varied forms of urbanization]. Urbanismus a územní rozvoj [Urbanism and Regional Development] , 5, 6, 17–21.Google Scholar
Musil, J. 1967. Sociologie soudobého města [Sociology of the Contemporary City] . Svoboda, Prague.Google Scholar
Musil, J., Kotačka, L., Lérová, I., Librová, E., Macková, L., Procházka, V. and Ryšavý, Z. 1985. Lidé a Sídliště [People and Housing Estates] . Svoboda, Prague.Google Scholar
Musterd, S. and van Kempen, R. 2007. Trapped or on the springboard? Housing careers in large housing estates in European cities. Journal of Urban Affairs, 29, 3, 311–29.Google Scholar
Nair, K. 2005. The physically ageing body and the use of space. In Andrews, G. J. and Phillips, D. R. (eds), Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy, Practice. Routledge Studies in Human Geography, Routledge, Oxford, 110–7.Google Scholar
Oswald, F. and Wahl, H. W. 2005. Dimensions of the meaning of home. In Rowles, G. and Chaudhury, H. (eds), Home and Identity in Late Life: International Perspectives. Springer, New York, 21–45.Google Scholar
Oswald, F., Jopp, D., Rott, Ch. and Wahl, H. W. 2010. Is ageing in place a resource for or risk to life satisfaction? The Gerontologist, 51, 2, 238–50.Google Scholar
Ouředníček, M., Temelová, J., Puldová, P. and Novák, J. 2011. Housing estates in the Czech Republic after socialism: various trajectories and inner differentiation. Urban Studies, 48, 9, 1811–34.Google Scholar
Pain, R. H. 1997. ‘Old age’ and ageism in urban research: the case of fear of crime. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 21, 1, 117–28.Google Scholar
Peace, S. M., Kellaher, L. A. and Holland, C. 2006. Environment and Identity in Later Life. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.Google Scholar
Phillips, D. R., Siu, O. L., Cheng, H. C. K. and Yeh, A. G. O. 2005. Ageing and the urban environment. In Andrews, G. and Phillips, D. R. (eds), Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy and Practice. Routledge Studies in Human Geography, Routledge, London, 147–65.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 2007. The ‘elected’ and the ‘excluded’: sociological perspectives on the experience of place and community in old age. Ageing & Society, 27, 3, 321–42.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. and Scharf, T. 2005. Rural and urban perspectives on growing old: developing a new research agenda. European Journal of Ageing, 2, 2, 67–75.Google Scholar
Rowles, G. D. 1993. Evolving images of place in aging and ‘Aging in Place’. Generations, 17, 2, 65.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R. L. 1989. The home environments of older people: a description of the psycho-social processes linking person to place. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 44, 2, 45–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scharf, T., Phillipson, C. and Smith, A. E. 2005. Social exclusion of older people in deprived urban communities of England. European Journal of Ageing, 2, 2, 76–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seidman, I. 1998. Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. Teachers College Press, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, A. E. 2009. Ageing in Urban Neighbourhoods: Place Attachment and Social Exclusion. Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Steinführer, A. 2003. Sociálně prostorové struktury mezi setrvalostí a změnou. Historický a současný pohled na Brno [Socio-spatial structures between persistency and change. Historical and contemporary perspectives on Brno]. Sociologický časopis [Czech Sociological Review] , 39, 2, 169–92.Google Scholar
Steinführer, A. 2006. The urban transition of inner city areas reconsidered (a German–Czech comparison). Moravian Geographical Reports, 14, 1, 3–16.Google Scholar
Steinführer, A., Bierzynski, A., Grossmann, K., Haase, A., Kabisch, S. and Klusáček, P. 2010. Population decline in Polish and Czech cities during post-socialism? Looking behind the official statistics. Urban Studies, 47, 11, 2325–46.Google Scholar
Steinführer, A. and Haase, A. 2007. Demographic change as a future challenge for cities in east central Europe. Geografiska Annaler: Human Geography, 89B, 2, 183–95.Google Scholar
Steinführer, A., Pospíšilová, J. and Grohmannová, J. 2009. Ne/nápadné proměny vnitřního města v postsocialistickém období [In/conspicuous changes of the inner city during post-socialism]. In Ferenčuhová, S., Hledíková, M., Galčanová, L. and Vacková, B. (eds), Město: proměnlivá ne/samozřejmost [City: Variable Not/Obvious] . Pavel Mervart, Masaryk University, Červený Kostelec, Brno, Czech Republic, 129–52.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1999. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Sýkora, L. 2009. New socio-spatial formations: places of residential segregation and separation in Czechia. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 100, 4, 417–35.Google Scholar
Sýkorová, D. 2007. Autonomie ve stáří. Kapitoly z gerontosociologie [Autonomy in Old Age. Chapters from Gerontosociology] . Sociologické nakladatelství, Prague.Google Scholar
Sýkorová, D. 2008. Prostor a věci v kontextu stáří [Space and things in the context of old age]. Sociologický časopis [Czech Sociological Review] , 44, 2, 401–21.Google Scholar
Sýkorová, D. 2012. Staří lidé ve městě. Na okraj velkého tématu [Seniors in the city: on the periphery of a big issue]. Sociologický časopis [Czech Sociological Review] , 48, 1, 107–29.Google Scholar
Temelová, J. and Dvořáková, N. 2012. Residential satisfaction of elderly in the city centre: the case of revitalizing neighbourhoods in Prague. Cities, 29, 5, 310–7.Google Scholar
Vidovićová, L. 2013. Future cities for the people of the past, or vice versa? The dynamic challenges of ageing and urbanization. In Szeman, S. (ed.), Challenges of Ageing Societies in the Visegrad Countries: Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia. Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, Budapest, 112–9.Google Scholar
Vidovićová, L. and Gregorová, E. 2010. Nová města a staří lidé [New towns and old people]. Socialní studia [Social Studies] , 7, 3, 81–93.Google Scholar
Wahl, H.-W. and Lang, F. R. 2003. Ageing in context across the adult life course: integrating physical and social environmental research perspectives. In Wahl, H.-W., Scheidt, R. and Windley, P. (eds), Aging in the Context: Socio-physical Environments. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics 23, Springer, New York, 1–34.Google Scholar
Wahl, H.-W., Scheidt, R. and Windley, P. (eds) 2003. Aging in the Context: Socio-physical Environments. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics 23, Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Wahl, H.-W. and Weisman, G. D. 2003. Environmental gerontology at the beginning of the new millennium: reflections on its historical, empirical, and theoretical development. The Gerontologist, 43, 5, 616–27.Google Scholar
Wiles, J. L., Leibing, A., Guberman, N., Reeve, J. and Allen, R. E. S. 2012. The meaning of ‘aging in place’ to older people. The Gerontologist, 52, 3, 357–66.Google Scholar