Article
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Space as Capital. or Why Geography Matters for Ageing
Version 1
: Received: 17 April 2023 / Approved: 18 April 2023 / Online: 18 April 2023 (03:12:02 CEST)
How to cite: Decker, P. D. Space as Capital. or Why Geography Matters for Ageing. Preprints 2023, 2023040463. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202304.0463.v1 Decker, P. D. Space as Capital. or Why Geography Matters for Ageing. Preprints 2023, 2023040463. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202304.0463.v1
Abstract
Flanders (Belgium) is ageing at a rapid pace. Elderly people will continue to live at home in large numbers, partly because this is encouraged by the government. However, many homes are not adapted to reduced mobility. For example, it is not possible to circulate with a wheelchair. But also the living environment poses challenges for the elderly. Flanders is known for a far-reaching spread of housing and facilities, with the result that daily facilities can often only be reached by car. As a result of this spatial fragmentation, the elderly themselves often live for care providers in unreachable places. This ensures, among other things, that the in-home help travels several car kilometers. And research shows that so-called informal care is not self-evident either. Because what about the elderly who don't have children living nearby? Or with the residents who only see their next neighbor hundreds of meters away, who is also often a little mobile peer? The (untouched) appropriateness of the home, the presence or absence of facilities or neighbors, all of which belongs to what we can call the spatial capital of an environment. If this is not present, an autonomous life for a less mobile elderly person is not possible. The argument is that without sufficient spatial capital, the policy options are to allow the elderly to live in their homes for as long as possible or caring neighborhoods dead ends.
Keywords
Belgium; spatial capital; sprawl, ageing; ageing in place
Subject
Social Sciences, Urban Studies and Planning
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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