Elderly, Geography and the

Changing Location and Migration Patterns

The aging of economically developed societies in association with population redistribution (involving the migration of elders and labor force populations) has resulted in a geographical concentration of older populations. Regionally, patterns of aging-in-place lead to concentrations of elders in rural areas abandoned by out-migration of the young in search of employment. Increasing concentrations of retiree migrants are to be found in coastal and amenity-rich communities. The international migration of elderly populations is also becoming an increasingly significant phenomenon. On the scale of individual cities and communities, urban core areas have historically experienced high concentrations of elders as a result of abandonment during the suburbanization of the young. Many rural communities, especially small towns providing attractive retirement destinations, also have high concentrations of elders. Such patterns are complemented by a trend toward the spatial separation of older populations, both within naturally occurring retirement communities and in planned age-segregated retirement communities ranging from small groups of elders housed in specially designed housing complexes to communities of more than 75,000 elders, such as Sun City, Arizona.

Elders’ Experience of Space and Place

Burgeoning elderly populations have led to an increasing concern with understanding how aging people use space and experience place and the manner in which such experience evolves as a result of changing physical, social, and psychological capabilities associated with advancing years. Older people spend more time at home. Limited mobility leads to progressively more constricted activity spaces. This pattern may be associated with an increasing emphasis on vicarious environmental participation and a growing [Page 878]emotional attachment to easily negotiated and familiar settings including the immediate residence. A desire to preserve independence and age-in-place may be manifested in a geographical centralization of activity within a limited area within the home. Elders may engage in the proactive creation of place by surrounding themselves with treasured artifacts, including photographs that sustain an ongoing sense of home and personal identity. This, in combination with the physical and psychological advantages of environmental familiarity, may result in a reluctance to relocate.

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