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Introducción Environmental context and the spatial experience of ageing in the place of origin: the case of Granada Diego SÁNCHEZ-GONZÁLEZ Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Resumen La investigación analiza los problemas de envejecer en el espacio habitado (vivienda y barrio) para los adultos mayores en la ciudad de Granada (España). La metodología se basa en el análisis de bases de datos, encuestas a las personas ancianas y un sistema de información geográfica a escala de distrito, barrio y sección urbana. Los resultados indican que la habitabilidad del contexto ambiental para el adulto mayor en la ciudad está determinada por la experiencia espacial, que relaciona los factores socioeconómicos (ingresos, condiciones de la vivienda, equipamientos) y los factores de subjetividad espacial (proximidad a familiares y vecinos, sentido del lugar, arraigo). Las conclusiones advierten del empeoramiento de los problemas socioespaciales de los adultos mayores ante la falta de planeación gerontológica en las ciudades. Palabras clave: adultos mayores, contexto ambiental, habitabilidad, satisfacción residencial, vivienda, ciudad, geografía del envejecimiento, Granada, España. Abstract Environmental context and spatial experience of aging in place: the case of Granada The research examines the problems of aging in the living space (housing and neighborhood) for elderly people in the city of Granada (Spain). The methodology is based on the analysis of databases, surveys on elderly people and a geographic information system at district level, neighborhood and urban section. The results indicate that the habitability of the environmental context by the elderly in the city is determined by the space experience, which combines the socio-economic factors (income, housing conditions, equipment) and subjective factors of space (proximity to family and neighbors, sense of place, rootedness). The conclusions warn on the deterioration of the socio-spatial problems of the elderly in the absence of planning gerontology in city. Key words: elderly people, environmental context, habitability, residential satisfaction, housing, city, aging geography, Granada, Spain. he challenge for humans at present is to achieve the creation of a city that is inhabitable and adaptable to changes such as population ageing. The recent debate on urban problems of post-industrial T cities includes issues related to profound interrelations that exist between the physical urban environment and the new model of social and spatial behavior of the elderly.

Transcript of Environmental Context Aging in Place

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Introducción

Environmental context and the spatial experience of ageing in the place of

origin: the case of GranadaDiego SÁNCHEZ-GONZÁLEZ

Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Resumen

La investigación analiza los problemas de envejecer en el espacio habitado (vivienda y barrio) para los adultos mayores en la ciudad de Granada (España). La metodología se basa en el análisis de bases de datos, encuestas a las personas ancianas y un sistema de información geográfi ca a escala de distrito, barrio y sección urbana. Los resultados indican que la habitabilidad del contexto ambiental para el adulto mayor en la ciudad está determinada por la experiencia espacial, que relaciona los factores socioeconómicos (ingresos, condiciones de la vivienda, equipamientos) y los factores de subjetividad espacial (proximidad a familiares y vecinos, sentido del lugar, arraigo). Las conclusiones advierten del empeoramiento de los problemas socioespaciales de los adultos mayores ante la falta de planeación gerontológica en las ciudades.

Palabras clave: adultos mayores, contexto ambiental, habitabilidad, satisfacción residencial, vivienda, ciudad, geografía del envejecimiento, Granada, España.

Abstract

Environmental context and spatial experience of aging in place: the case of Granada

The research examines the problems of aging in the living space (housing and neighborhood) for elderly people in the city of Granada (Spain). The methodology is based on the analysis of databases, surveys on elderly people and a geographic information system at district level, neighborhood and urban section. The results indicate that the habitability of the environmental context by the elderly in the city is determined by the space experience, which combines the socio-economic factors (income, housing conditions, equipment) and subjective factors of space (proximity to family and neighbors, sense of place, rootedness). The conclusions warn on the deterioration of the socio-spatial problems of the elderly in the absence of planning gerontology in city.

Key words: elderly people, environmental context, habitability, residential satisfaction, housing, city, aging geography, Granada, Spain.

he challenge for humans at present is to achieve the creation of a city that is inhabitable and adaptable to changes such as population ageing. The recent debate on urban problems of post-industrial T

cities includes issues related to profound interrelations that exist between the physical urban environment and the new model of social and spatial behavior of the elderly.

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It is undeniable that problems related to demographic ageing are generally taken out of context in the rural space; however, in the urban sphere they seem to be more acute and their perception is even more profound; maybe because it is the common experience of a higher number of older adult people. The current world economic crisis can accelerate the ageing process and stress the concerning situation of millions of older adults in cities due to the lack of gerontological planning and adequate social policies. In the following years, the economic slowdown, the barriers to immigration and low birthrates can speed up this process, reaching offi cial projections earlier than foreseen.

More and more elderly people inhabit cities in developed and developing countries (Sánchez González, 2007: 45-61). At present, more than 70 percent of the older adults in the Community of Andalucia (Spain) live in municipalities of more than 10 000 inhabitants (Valle, 2005: 8-40). However, this urban ageing creates new demands (social, residential, welfare and health) and they go beyond the existent social resources available in the municipalities (Hoskins, 2002: 13-22). This situation favors the increasing inequality and socio-spatial marginalization that a great part of older adults experience in comparison to the rest of the society (Rodríguez et al., 2003: 43-46). Recent studies (Escudero, 2003) warn about the increasing problem of habitability as well as about the inadequacy of the urban space for older adult people; disregarding their needs and changing household necessities, their immediate environment and the conditions of the city are disregarded.

This paper tackles the habitability problems for older adult people in Andalusia urban areas. Starting with the updated revision of the bibliographical resources, we managed to learn the different theoretical and methodological stances of the social geography of ageing, tackling its problems, commitments and challenges. The study focuses on Granada City, the most aged capital in Andalusia (17 percent) (INE, 2005), which is a perfect scenario to contextualize the concerning situation of the older adults and to analyze their habitability problems in terms of housing and urban space. This defi nitely is a study on the social geography of ageing, whose methodology and diagnoses can be used to set proposals on gerontological planning that apply to other cities in developed or developing countries, such as Latin America or the Caribbean (Ortiz et al., 2003: 107-124; Vela Peónand Castillo Fernández, 2005: 107-141), where the situation of the older adults and their habitability problems are especially concerning.

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Censuses remind us that urban demographic ageing is an undeniable fact. Claims from professionals and third age associations invite us to refl ect on the lack of social policies and urban planning which improve the inhabited spaces for a population ageing in the city. All in all, it should be a general commitment to be concerned about adding life to the years and not years to life in the city; and this is especially the case for professionals, planners and social agents. Are we conscious about urban demographic ageing? What is urban habitability for older adults? Which values do we provide urban habitability with? Which quantitative and qualitative dimensions have more incidence on the perception of achieving habitability for the older adults? Do these habitability values change in time depending on whether we are 65 years old, octogenarians, men or women? What are the most important problems in terms of habitability in the urban old age? How does the unequal distribution of equipment and urban services impact on the habitability of the elderly? Which material and human means ought to be provided to the older adult to guarantee a set of minimal conditions of habitability for the urban environmental contexts? Why does habitability in the older adult refl ect the marginalization in the urban consumption society? What is the objective of an urban gerontological planning?

Perspectives of the geography of ageing.Some researchers (Harper and Laws, 1995: 199-221) set geography between the challenge to make public the ageing of the society and the debate of the decline of life as a condition of change in the age-environment relation. Demographic changes have created signifi cant transformation in the age structure of the population and have made ageing an increasing concern that is not limited to developed countries (Rentería, 2003: 54-70).

Projections force us to change the current strategies of social policies, giving them a new direction towards social participation and integration of older adults by means of urban and rural spaces planning (Sánchez González, 2008: 59-94).

Several signifi cant advances with regard to the study of this demographic and social phenomenon were produced during the 70’s and 80’s, and research on the spatial behavior and the environmental context of the older adults acquired special signifi cance (Peet and Rowles, 1974: 287-289; Lawton, 1983: 349-357). Geography, as the rest of the social sciences, has been interested in the demographic ageing phenomenon and the situation of the older adult people in recent decades (Andrews et al., 2007: 151-168).

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The increasing signifi cance of the spatial issues of the ageing process in the gerontological studies (López, 1993; Sánchez González, 2005a), expressed in different published works, has favored the interest in different topics: the geographical distribution and localization of both ageing and elderly population; migration and mobility in older adults, spatial behavior and the environmental context of this population. Studies on geographical distribution and localization of elderliness and those on elderly population highlight research on the distribution and concentration of elderly people using different offi cial sources in the analysis (Valle Ramos, 2005: 8-40; Santos, 2008: 109-121). By means of theoretical statements and analysis of study cases, the depopulation topic is approached in its relation to ageing in the population and territories; this fact explains the socio-demographic process in the intraurban and metropolitan spaces (Aguilera and González, 2001: 11-24). It also explains their unequal levels of wellbeing (Puga González and Abellán García, 2007: 121-141). In the same way, diffi culties related to the lack of revitalization of the historical centers and rural areas create new problems in terms of access and isolation for older adults.

Increasing research on migration and mobility in older adults explain the heterogeneous demographic structures at different levels of local and regional analysis, demonstrating a progressive ageing of the population in specifi c rural and urban areas (Ibáñez and Alarcón, 2007: 93-125).

The increase in demographic ageing has signifi cant implications in urban and territorial planning, as well as in housing, employment, social services and welfare policies. Indeed, the bordering regions and cities (Spain-Morocco and U.S.-Mexico) are a scenario of illegal migration and its dramatic effects on the oldest individuals (poverty, lack of health coverage, scarcity of informal help, loneliness, discrimination, uprooting) (Godenau, 2007).

In the same way, studies on activity models and specifi c spatial behaviors at different scales are especially interesting, despite they are still a minority, as those on segregated housing, familial and social interaction, retirement and social and spatial changes (Abellán García, 1999: 143-159).

Studies on spatial behavior and environmental context are carried out based on the understanding on the living conditions of older adults and their relation with the physical and social environment, from a geographical analysis at different levels, including a microscale of home address (Sánchez González, 1997: 501-514; Gómez Jiménez, 2003).

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Research deals with problems that are poorly described in the diagnosis, such as material comfort, environmental and affective perception of the inhabited space (housing, neighborhood) (Prieto Flores et al., 2008: 301-313), loneliness and kind of housing, dependence and informal help, insecurity, participation and social integration, new behaviors, uses of time, disability, access to environment and to equipment (Barreda Montequín, 2008). Precisely, the new legal framework (BOE, 2003) sets the need to adapt environments (housing and city) to the specifi c needs of the elderly, highlighting the advantages of a universal design as opposed to the classic one focused on specifi c groups (Lillo and Moreira, 2004: 493-506). Different published works on ageing in urban contexts have appeared in the last decades (Wahl et al., 2003); they refer to physical-social places in time, where available theories on ageing are related and models on socio-spatial relations are proposed for the life of older adults in cities.

Up to present, many researchers (López Jiménez, 1993; Compán Vázquez and Sánchez González, 2005: 255-274) agree that the habitability of elderly people in the city is determined to a great extent by socioeconomic factors (income, material conditions of housing, health and welfare services). New studies (Hägerstrand, 2000: 107-132) start questioning the previous statement and propose new lines of research that have a bearing in the increasing importance of the qualitative aspects of the skill in elderly age, such as the psychological factors (affectivity, emotion, self-esteem, creativity, experience). Ageing in the inhabited space has started to be seen as a process of integration to the neighborhood or city, on the basis of a combination of socio-spatial processes and spatial experience, referred to the individual, modeled in a sociocultural way, charged with sense, meanings and memory about practical life (Lindón, 2006: 356-400). Daily life in elderly age would be a key factor to explain the complexity of the habitability topic in urban environmental contexts, just as new qualitative approaches on sensibility that research the complex socio-spatial relations between elderly people, health and place (Andrews and Phillips, 2005).

Some research suggests that environmental conditions (housing and neighborhood) can be stressing factors and have an impact in the residential satisfaction and the psychological wellbeing (Phillips et al., 2005: 2785-2797). In this context, the following question arises: is it possible to speak of residential satisfaction when there is a lack of material conditions of habitability in the housing and the neighborhood of the elderly? Some researchers (Eyles, 1989: 102-117) mention that people have the skill to create and recreate signifi cant daily places, even when they are degraded

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and monotonous spaces. Some researchers (Hanson and Pratt, 1992: 373-405) relate gender and age to the geographical structure of the space-time opportunities and restrictions of the urban displacements. This line would be related to the concept of geographical and residential settlement, which above all affects elderly women, who have less spatial mobility, and who live in degraded historical centers, but who also are close to their families, neighbors, experiences and memories. Different studies on environmental contexts that affect older people highlight the importance of the familial and social networks (Warnes, 1990: 24-56). The current tendency towards economic instability and familial disintegration, related to the change in the postindustrial model, set a limit to the possibilities of maintaining the interregional spatial interactions and relations, especially in low-income families (Smith, 1998: 368-384).

With regard to daily displacement practices, there have been studies concerning the older elderly, they have been limited at a fi rst moment only to displacements in terms of frequency, distances and routes. The lack of adequate public transportation, the architectural barriers in the inhabited space (house and neighborhood) and, above all, the personal conditions (people who live alone and with a reduced social and family network), give an explanation to a minor probability of travelling in public transport and to a higher spatial and social lack of communication (Smith and Hiltner, 1988: 504-513). Likewise, mobility and to a lesser extent, availability, nearness and access to social and health services foster their use by the older adult population in the city (Golantand Salmon, 2004: 349-369). Other topics relate displacements to health geography in the daily life of older adults in which we prove that disabilities affect the capacity of displacement of people, setting limits and conditions to it (Andrews et al., 2007: 151-168).

Geographic information systems have become popular in the socio-spatial analysis of the relative infl uence of the environmental context (housing, neighborhood, city) on the life of elderly people (Stewart, 2003: 134-151). Such analysis tool would be essential in the gerontological planning of cities (Sánchez González, 2007: 45-61).

The increasing socio-spatial studies on elderliness in the urban sphere elaborate on the new challenges of the city in the context of a globalized economy with strong intra-urban competence, which limits vulnerable groups, and has a urban planning that is rationalist in the beginning, marginalizes vulnerable groups, but one in which reason does not seem to prevail. Also, many topics on social gerontology, the multidisciplinary science of ageing, are related to the lack of understanding on the relative

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infl uence of space (housing, neighborhood, city) in the life of the elderly (Warnes, 1990: 24-56). Some studies (Wahl et al., 2003) are interested in the signifi cant function of the environmental context (place, space) in the process and changes of ageing, and they become an essential element of the useful life of the vital cycle (self-suffi ciency and dependence) or in the perspectives on social and gerontological behavior. However, the role of the environmental context in ageing is still scarcely understood. It is also concerning that some researchers misuse terms related to the environmental context of ageing: space or place.

The current geography of ageing or gerontological geography is understood as the study of complex relations between the elderly and the geographic space (housing, neighborhood, city, region) within a social and spatial context, integrated by the “physical”, “built” and “human-social” environments (Andrews et al., 2007: 151-168).

The incorporation of geographers to social gerontology projects will contribute to reduce their fragmentation and favor gerontological development creating better diagnostics at different territorial levels; they will enable an adequate gerontological planning of the cities in synergy with their regions (Sánchez González, 2007: 45-61).

The combination of the geographical dimension of social ageing and the localization of the complex gerontological aspects enables the identifi cation of a great number of variables that can be researched. It also enables an integrative vision of the environmental context by means of spatial analysis techniques, which allow deepening into the socio-spatial interrelations of ageing and the situation of the elderly in the city (Valle Ramos, 2007: 187-201).

Throughout successive and uneven practices, urban elderliness has been understood in different ways, under respect or elimination. We shall refl ect on which of these states we are now, and above all, on where we are going to, as well as on the role that geographers and social gerontologists will play in view of the challenges that an ageing urban world sets.

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Objectives and methodologyWhat is habitability in the urban environmental context? Habitability, as seen by architects and urbanists, is defi ned as the quality of being habitable, in accordance to specifi c legal norms, which a place or house has (Edwards, 2004). This parameter of quality is the set of conditions of the architectonical space, which meet the needs derived from the characteristics of a human being for the best performance of the established activities. Urban architecture is heavily infl uenced by social and political conditions, to which one has to add globalization, promoting the development of individualism to the detriment of collective values. It is precisely the lack of defi nitions, euphemisms and the reduction of complexity of the habitability in the urban environmental contexts for older adults what forces us to refl ect, question and explain the conditions that make it possible and contribute to provide satisfaction and quality of life to the inhabited spaces and, from an integral perspective, to the individual and to the collectivity of older adults who live in our cities.

The general objective of the study is to analyze the habitability problems of the environmental context in socio-spatial terms (housing and neighborhood) of the elderly population in the city of Granada. Among its specifi c objectives one fi nds the unequal distribution of urban demographic ageing; we also analyze the factors that set conditions to habitability of the inhabited space (housing, neighborhood) of the elderly, and which is determined by their socio-demographic, economic, health and, above all, residential and spatial characteristics. They were classifi ed and mapped according to urban social areas (sections and neighborhoods), which are relatively homogeneous; the spatial experience of the older adult explains the unequal habitability of the urban environmental context. The starting hypothesis states that the habitability of the environmental context (housing, neighborhood) of the elderly in the city is determined by the spatial experience, which relates the objective factors (income, health, housing conditions, equipment) and the subjective factors (nearness to family and neighbors, the meaning of the place and rooting).

The methodology consists in revising updated literature, analyzing population census databases (INE, 2001) and personal interviews with older adults (Sánchez González, 2005b), as well as the use of a system of geographical information at district, neighborhood and census section levels. This research uses the database from the survey obtained from a personal doctorate thesis (Sánchez González, 2005a), which has been used

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explicitly for this paper, using procedures that are not included in said thesis by means of different computing programs (SPSS 15.0 and STATISTICA 8.0). Even though we are aware of the temporality problem in terms of data in any survey, we defend its validity and use it for the purpose of this research. We focus on deepening into the refl ection about the habitability problems of older adults in the urban environmental contexts.

The sample consists of 797 valid surveys corresponding to people who were 65 or more years of age of both genders and who live in their home address in the municipality of Granada. The maximal sample error for the sample global data was of 3.4 percent, with a level of signifi cance of 95 percent; whereas for the different sub-samples or areas (districts), the maximal estimated error was of 12.5 percent. The starting data matrix consists of 127 thousand data (Sánchez González, 2005b), allowing the use of some techniques of bivariable statistical analysis (frequencies, contingency tables, correlations) and multivariable (main components, factorial punctuations and cluster analysis). The system of geographical information (ARCGIS 9.2 ) focused on the socio-spatial analysis of the database of the population census and on the disaggregated survey at district, neighbor and census section level. Their spatial units of observation correspond to the cartography of Social Services from Granada (map 1). In the same way, the subjects of study are people 65 years or older who do not belong to an institution and who live in their house in the city of Granada.

Distribution of urban demographic ageing in GranadaGranada has become one of the Spanish cities that most population loses (INE, 2005). A demographic fall has been taking place in the city for more than two decades, with a loss that is close to 22 000 inhabitants; fi xing it in 243 341 inhabitants (INE, 2001), whereas that the Granada province has gained almost 60 000. The process is motivated by a lost in fertility, a decrease in mortality and, above all, migration movements, mainly those of young population towards other municipalities of the metropolitan area (Armilla, La Zubia) (Sánchez González, 2005c: 185-199).

Between 1996 and 2001, changes in the demographic structure caused the decrease in the group from 0 to 14 years, from 17 to 12.5 percent, and a relative increase in the group in 65 years or older, from 14.6 to 17 percent, with an inter-annual increase of 0.5 percent in its ageing rate. According to data from the census (INE, 2001), there are more than 41 446 older adults and 43.8 percent is 75 years of age or older. This fact makes it the most aged capital in Andalusia and the one with more problems in terms

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of dependence. The Granada capital records an increase in the average age of the population. Its geographical distribution refl ects an over ageing of the central areas, and it corresponds to the evolution of the demographic structure and the processes of occupation of the urban space. Feminization of elderliness is one of its common socio-demographic features; however, its attention is far from being integral and included in an effective way in the social policies (Pérez, 2003: 91-121). There is a higher relative ageing in the unequal spatial distribution of the demographic ageing at municipal level, (> 23.9 percent) in the census sections of the neighborhoods and districts of the urban center (Centro, Albaicín and Ronda) (map 2). It is favored by the ejection of young population towards the periphery looking for housing. By contrast, lower ageing rates (<six percent) are located in census sections of peripheral neighborhoods and districts (Ronda, Chana and Zaidín), which are densely populated and located in the west end of the urban heart. As in other cities (Sargatal, 2001), immigration (from Morocco) and gentrifi cation processes have contributed to reduce the ageing rate in some central neighborhoods (Albaicín).

The unequal spatial distribution of elderly population in Granada is determined by factors such as the level of studies, professional activity, migration, urbanization and speculation processes that have determined the history of the spaces and its communities. Different authors (Pérez, 2003: 91-121) have pointed out that retirement brings about signifi cant social costs and economic consequences for the individuals, which affect at quotidian, private and familiar levels. Our predictions for the coming years indicate a progressive homogenization of the demographic ageing and an increase in the number of octogenarians. In the same way, changes in the familiar relations compromise informal help and would increase the dependence and social isolation problem, in view of the lack of social resources, the inadequacy of the environmental contexts and the new labor, social and residential patterns of their families (Sánchez González, 1997: 501-514).

Are we conscious of urban demographic ageing? The answer to this question forces us to refl ect on the contradictions of our urban society, which proves its marginalization by means of habitability problems for the elderly. The increase in the number of of older adults has not eliminated the existence of social exclusion situations (poverty, loneliness, mistreatment, discrimination) (Ham-Chandeand González González, 2008: 35-58). Our society has managed to add “more years to life”, but at present it has not been able to provide “more life to those years”. Are we conscious of the

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importance of environmental contexts for the elderly? Most social and professional agents in urban planning lack sensibility and reduce the complex social ageing phenomenon to a demographic variable, included in ineffi cient diagnosis. It is necessary for urban planning to be gerontological and to be ahead of the new challenges of adapting spaces and locating services for the population who ages in the city. This is impossible without education for wider social awareness of the gerontological problems

Factor analysis and habitability of the environmental context in old ageThe multivariable analysis applied to data from the sample is part of the urban factorial ecology (Ocaña, 2000), which is a scientifi c method used in some studies on the urban distribution of the elderly, such as that on Madrid and Sevilla (Jordá and Lucendo, 1999). The objective of the statistical analysis is to obtain the factors that explain and condition the habitability of the inhabited space of Granada city (housing, neighborhood) for the older adult people. It is based on the study of its socio-demographic, economic, health and above all residential and spatial characteristics. In order to carry out the analysis of the main components we have used two databases that are available (population census and survey). Their data has been added to the 174 census sections in which Granada is divided. In the pre-selection of variables, we took as starting matrix that consisting of 191 variables. In it we can fi nd: 179 variables of the survey, with data added (in percentages) and related to the socio-demographic, economic, health and, mostly, residential and spatial characteristics, as well as the 12 left for the data added about the population census of 2001. The process to choose the variables was carried out in consecutive stages, by means of different samples and attempting to always choose the most suitable by looking for the least redundancy and the highest capacity of association with the obtained factors. The matrix of simple correlation, communal and multiple correlations in the following stages of the selection process of the variables allowed us to determine the degree of association that exists between the variables that were used and eliminating those who had higher redundancy and lower explanatory power. This way, we obtained a new matrix of 25 variables without redundancy and with communalities and multiple correlations not lower than 0.5. With that, we aimed at refi ning the variables and reducing to its minimal the number of variables to be considered without losing explanatory capacity. The analysis of the main components (table 1),

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then, allow us to obtain seven factors (socioeconomic, health, residential seniority, psychic-physical well-being, health services, social services and coexistence) which explain the habitability of the environmental context of the older adult. In fi rst place, the socioeconomic factor, which explains 25 percent of the variance (table 1), it groups variables of educational nature (E_SECSUP) and at professional level (TRASUPER), which have a huge signifi cation in retirement, determining well-being aspects of older adults, as the economic (PR_ECONO, INGRE65) and labor (SEGUIRT) situations, as well as the access to the social services (SS_DESCU). 69.1 percent of the older adults have economic problems and diffi culties to reach the end of the month with their scarce income, and 58.3 percent claims from better pensions as a pressing measure for retired people. In the same way, women who are 75 years or more, illiterate and immigrant, show the most bitter face of poverty and extreme poverty. The economic shortage tends to have consequences on their capacity to buy basic products, such as essential food and clothing. In the same way, we found that individuals with more economic diffi culties have more problems in terms of housing habitability and physical isolation (Mangano and Capacci, 2003). Once factorial punctuations were made into cartography in census neighborhoods and sections, one notices socioeconomic differences between the center and periphery (map 3). The semi-central neighborhoods in the west end of the historical center have a medium-high status (Pajaritos, Fígares and Sagrario), and the neighborhoods next to them have a medium status. The peripheral neighborhoods, above all in the North district, and some of the historical center (Albaicín and Realejo), have the characteristic of medium-low status prevalence. In the same way, three peripheral neighborhoods of the North and Northeast border (La Paz, Almanjáyar and Haza Grande) have a low status and problems of inhabitability in the environmental context (housing and neighborhood). In these last neighborhoods there prevail former non-qualifi ed workers, irregular immigrants (from Morocco) and gypsies, whose low incomes have contributed to increase the marginalization and social exclusion of their elderly population.

In second place, the health factor, it represents 12.8 percent of the variance and consists of variables related to the perception of health condition (SALUDMAL and PR_SALUD), dependence (NEC_TOT) and leisure time (OCI_SOLO) (table 1). Health is one of the main concerns for older adults, and more than 21 percent states being sick or very sick. Here, the elderly with the worst health condition have more dependence problems, and live in households that are older and have signifi cant habitability problems (need reforms and lack basic resources)

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One can verify the impact that housing conditions have on elderly people in their habitability and psychological well-being (Phillips et al., 2005: 2785-2797). 49.1 percent of the people who perceive their health condition as bad or very bad and 43.6 percent of the people with disability problems live in a place that needs to be adapted and equipped, above all in the Center zone (Realejo, San Matías) and Albaicín (Sacromonte, Albaicín).

Dependence problems affect almost 14 000 aged people in the capital, they expressed to need help, however, 10 percent of them does not receive any at all and is immersed in familial and institutional abandonment.

TABLE 1ROTATED FACTORIAL MATRIX (NORMALIZED VARIMAX ROTATION).

ANALYSIS OF MAIN COMPONENTS FOR THE AGGREGATED DATA

N Variable DescriptionFactor

1Factor

2Factor

3Factor

4Factor

5Factor

6Factor

7

01 EDAD75 % people 75 years of age and older 0.257 -0.043 0.243 0.185 0.166 -0.687 -0.312

02 E_SECSUP % of people with secondary and higher education 0.883 0.104 0.300 0.014 0.128 0.013 0.071

03 TRASUPER% of people with liberal professions, functionaries and yadministrative 0.887 0.070 0.172 0.028 0.134 -0.009 0.077

04 SEGUIRT % of people who would continue working 0.626 0.060 -0.011 0.293 -0.361 0.190 -0.154

05 INGRE65 % of people with a wage equal or below 450 EUR -0.629 0.367 0.203 0.161 0.095 0.284 -0.007

06 SALUDMAL % of people who perceive their health as bad or very bad 0.076 0.900 0.186 -0.007 -0.192 0.082 0.156

07 ENF_MOV% of people with motility problems (locomotor system,sight and/or hearing) -0.266 -0.142 -0.236 -0.682 -0.028 0.204 0.049

08 ENF_NERV % of people with problems in the nervous system 0.103 0.085 0.242 -0.861 -0.028 -0.047 0.150

09 PRCS_NO % of people with no problems with healthcare centers 0.201 -0.031 0.022 0.217 0.858 0.020 -0.024

10 NEC_TOT% of people who need help to carry out all their everyday tasks 0.031 0.777 0.076 0.158 0.036 0.246 -0.217

11 LEAY_NO % of people who do not receive help at all -0.074 -0.010 0.424 -0.134 -0.004 0.667 -0.235

12 AYUA_NO % of people who do not help at all 0.056 0.360 0.139 -0.136 0.062 0.604 -0.082

13 SATCONVR% of surveyed people who mildly or scantly satisfied with the people they coexist -0.073 0.001 0.253 0.202 0.053 -0.031 -0.839

14 SS_DESCU % of people who use discounts for the elderly (bonobús) -0.632 -0.187 -0.163 -0.203 -0.048 -0.582 0.000

15 SS_NOUSA % of people who do not use social services 0.206 0.224 -0.033 0.075 0.122 0.839 0.046

16 CASANTIG % of people who live in houses build 50 yrs ago and more 0.241 0.199 0.859 -0.042 0.125 0.124 -0.073

17 AÑBARR50% of people who have lived for 50 years and more in the neighborhood 0.273 0.193 0.838 -0.036 0.118 0.080 -0.088

18 OCI_SOLO% of people with individual leisure activities (television,radio and reading) 0.280 -0.632 0.371 0.356 -0.173 -0.152 0.154

19 INF_FAMI% of people who prefer relatives and friends to be informed -0.151 0.389 -0.567 -0.335 0.270 -0.031 -0.004

20 PR_ECONO % of people who are deeply concerned by the economy -0.826 -0.163 -0.141 0.185 0.095 -0.073 0.114

21 PR_SALUD % of people who are deeply concerned by health 0.446 0.717 0.167 0.191 -0.084 0.220 0.116

22 PR_DELIN % of people deeply concerned by delinquency 0.394 -0.261 -0.074 -0.604 -0.181 0.039 0.057

23 ACT_PART% of people who take part in associations, adult education and in the parish 0.231 0.149 -0.329 0.201 -0.541 -0.213 0.065

24 PANCI98% of population of 65 years of a age an older according to neighborhood in 1998 0.462 0.051 0.586 -0.157 0.100 -0.160 -0.191

25 RMASCU98 Masculinity ratio according to neighborhood -0.700 0.065 -0.251 0.001 0.000 -0.067 0.103

% total variance 25 051 12 844 9 174 8 195 5 735 5 717 4 764Analysis of main components for aggregated data. Factors: 1) Socioeconomic; 2) health; 3) residence seniority; 4) psychic-physical wellbeing; 5) health services; 6) social services; 7) coexistence.Source: own elaboration based on Sánchez, 2005b, INE, 2001.

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The profi le of an elderly dependent person in need is an 80-year-old or older widow, who has few children, immigrant, with low socioeconomic level and habitability problems in her housing. 46.6 percent of the people needs help to accomplish their own personal care (eating, dressing, cleaning themselves), lives in a house that needs to be improved and has architectonical barriers, mostly in Centro and Albaicín zones. Residential seniority is third in place and explains 9.2 percent of the total variance. It is defi ned by residential (CASANTIG) and socio-demographic variables (AÑBARR50), which indicate that in the demographically old neighborhoods (PANCI98), there is a signifi cant presence of older adults, original from that place and with more spatial experience, since they have inhabited the neighborhood and the (old) house during most part of their lives. Octogenarian women who live alone prevail in these neighborhoods (CONVSOLO) and they do not receive help from anyone (LEAY_NO) (table 1). The highest residential seniority is located in the neighborhoods of the historical center (Centro and Albaicín), being lower in the neighborhoods of the periphery, above all, North (Almanjáyar).

Residential mobility is scarce among older adults in Granada, considering that three out of four elderly people have lived 25 years or more in the same neighborhood: 41.8 percent between 25 and 49 years, and 28 percent is 50 years of age and older, above all in the central areas of the city (San Matías, Realejo, Sagrario). This data demonstrate the permanence of aged people in their same neighborhoods (a more intense feeling of belonging) and their scarce residential mobility. On their side, among surveyed people who have less time in the neighborhood, we highlight the 7.7 percent that has lived less than fi ve years, especially immigrant and widowed people who join their children to live with them, above all in the periphery neighborhoods (Zaidín, Cartuja). In this case, we proved in an empirical way that the spatial experience of the older adults correlates in a positive way to residential seniority, residential satisfaction (housing and neighborhood), closeness to family and neighbors, and social relations (associations).

Housing is a determining factor in the habitability of the environmental context for older adults, given the fact that they remain most of the time at their households. Most elderly people live in their own house (76.2 percent), as opposed to 12.2 percent who rent. In the urban center there is more presence of the renting regime, above all of the old rent system. We state the hypothesis that low prices in the rent of old houses favor speculative strategies of expulsion of elderly residents, sometimes by means of the abandonment and absense of maintenance by the owner, and others, by means of coaction.

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The seniority of the house sets a condition on its conservation state; this situation worsens, since, one out of four home addresses inhabited by elderly people are 50 years or older, above all in the neighborhoods of the historical center in Granada (Realejo, San Agustín, San Matías), being it lower in peripheral neighborhoods (Almanjáyar, Zaidín). Also, 84.6 percent of the residents in houses with seniority of 25 years or more claims for economic help to improve their households (reforms, basic resources). Three out of four elderly people have defi ciencies in their home addresses (73.8 percent), above all, women of 75 years or older, widows, who live alone, have low income and live in a rented house of 50 years or more (table 2). Among the most common necessities in the houses inhabited by the elderly there stands out the need of improvement (humidity, cracks, leaks, defi ciencies in the building wiring, and water and gas installations, ventilation problems) (37.1 percent) and the elimination of architectural barriers, both inside and outside the house, as well as in narrow corridors for the transit of a wheelchair, stairs inside the building, lack of ramps and lack of elevator to access the home address (27.1 percent). We verifi ed that the lack of elevator conditions the access to urban spaces and services; it also has a negative impact on their social and familial relations (isolation, loneliness). In many cases, the house itself becomes a real prison. In the same way, the lack of telephone (12.8 percent) keeps the elderly from being in touch with family, friends and other services (emergencies, social services) unless they leave home. Also, the lack of heating (66.9 percent) has an impact n the health of the older adult during cold winters, When the risk of illnesses increase (hypothermia, joint aches, rheumatism) and the danger of a fi re (stoves in bad conditions). Although only 10.9 percent of the elderly people replied not to have a full bathroom, such rate increases up to 37.1 percent in people who need improvements and adaptations in their toilets. We have to bear in mind that the bathroom becomes one of the spaces in the house were most falls are recorded, resulting in devastating effects (hip fractures). The most important needs in terms of adaptability and access of the domestic space, and of basic equipment, are recorded in the neighborhoods of the historical center (Centro and Albaicín) and the North periphery (Almanjáyar, La Paz), being lower in the periphery neighbors, above all, South (Fígares, Zaidín, Cervantes) (table 3). Overcrowding is present in almost seven percent of the older adults from Granada (tables 2 and 3), above all in women who are 80 years or older and who live with their children, who live in Norte district (La Paz), where there are social houses with reduced dimensions (less than 50 m2 and one or two

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sleeping rooms). 40.7 percent of the elderly who coexist with their children have problems of lack of intimacy at the moment of sharing the sleeping room with other people (grandchildren) and require a room to sleep. The progressive decrease in the average size of social housing in recent years is related to the increase in the price of housing and real estate speculation in Spain. This forces young families to acquire houses of reduced dimensions and with scarce capacity of improvement for intergenerational coexistence. We have to refl ect on the housing policy of reduced dimensions; it does not contribute to reduce the scarcity of housing, on the contrary, it has increased the overcrowding problems of the families. Governments have to favor the change in housing policies; it shall enable new designs adapted to the changing needs of the users, intergenerational relations and informal help for the dependent people, an essential help, whose economic and social costs is not “assumable” today by any administration.

In fourth place, the psychic-physical well-being, which represents 8.2 percent of the total variance, and includes variables related to problems of the nervous system (ENF_NERV) and of mobility (locomotor system, sight and hearing) (ENF_MOV) (table 1). It is precisely in the neighborhoods where people have a poor health state that we fi nd a lower concern for delinquency (PR_DELIN). In the neighborhoods of the periphery where older adult people have higher psychic-physical well-being, those with lower population ageing and a medium socioeconomic level as Fígares and Camino Bajo de Huétor and those in the North periphery stand out; those in the latter have a low socioeconomic level, such as San Francisco Javier and Almanjáyar. There is in these spaces a lower presence of people in advanced ages and living alone. In the opposite way, neighborhoods with low psychic-physical well-being are located in the center (Albaicín, San Ildefonso) and, above all, the south pericentral area: Pajaritos and Cervantes. This set of neighborhoods has a signifi cant number of aged population with health problems related to age. The presence of problems in the nervous system is also signifi cant in less aged neighborhoods, such as Cervantes and San Francisco; they could be related to other socio-professional factors.

In fi fth place, health services factors account for 5.73 percent of the total variance, the perception of the problems of health services stands out (PRCS_NO) (table 1). From the older adults with health problems, a very reduced group, only fi ve percent, makes use of private healthcare, the remaining percentage, up to 41 percent, reports problems in public health centers (waiting lists, lack of staff, lack of equipment), and related

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to accessibility (distance to the centers, delinquency). We proved that there is a strong correlation between the use of social and health services in elderly population and their localization and access in the neighborhood (Golant and Salmon, 2004: 349-369). We also noticed certain correlation between the increasing problem of self-medication of older adults and problems in the hospital and medical services (quality and accessibility). At inter-urban scale, we noticed signifi cant differences in the quality of health services: the historical center of Granada and the marginalized neighborhoods of the periphery (La Paz, Sacromonte) do not have the medical and hospital services that are necessary to meet the demand of the resident elderly population. In the same way, emergency medical services (ambulances) tend to have problems to provide help to elderly people due to the architectonical barriers and delinquency in their neighborhoods.

In the fi fth factor, there are variables related to health services (PRCS_NO) and participation of associations (ACT_PART). The higher relative presence of elderly people with better-perceived health is located in the neighborhoods in which health services have less problems and in which older adults take part in more associations (Ronda). This circumstance would explain the need to increase the coverage and quality of health services in those neighborhoods with defi cits, and they are also the ones in which we fi nd more health problems and more relative presence of octogenarians (centro histórico). It is necessary to promote programs of education of adults among elderly people (education centers for adults),

TABLE 3PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF THE PERCEIVED NEED OF THE

HOUSEHOLDS OF PEOPLE OF 65 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER,BY DISTRICT. CITY OF GRANADA

Districts

Deficiencies perceived in housing Some

reforms PhoneOwn room to

sleepFull

bathroom ElevatorCentral heating

There are no lacks NA/NK

Albaicín 56.7 217 5.0 30.0 38.3 80.0 15.0 0.0

Beiro 31.1 7.8 5.6 4.4 31.1 51.1 34.4 0.0

Centro 42.1 15.9 8.7 17.5 42.9 65.1 26.2 2.4

Chana 40.6 14.5 4.3 14.5 29.0 85.5 5.8 4.3

Genil 36.5 9.5 5.4 5.4 24.3 64.9 25.7 0.0

Norte 41.7 13.3 16.7 18.3 23.3 93.3 5.0 1.7

Ronda 24.6 9.7 5.7 3.4 13.1 49.7 39.4 1.7

Zaidín 40.6 14.0 6.3 8.4 25.2 74.8 19.6 0.7

Total 37.1 12.8 6.9 10.9 27.1 66.9 24.6 1.4Source: own elaboration based on Sánchez, 2005b.

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given the fact that they favor the independence of the subject, the interpersonal relations and hinder the presence of other problems related to elderliness (loneliness, deterioration of health). Also, the promotion of sociocultural activities in advanced ages contributes to the satisfaction of the older adult, reducing medical and medication expenditure (Castellón and Gómez, 2004: 252-257), which contributes to the habitability of the environmental context.

In sixth place, the social services factor, with 5.72 percent of the total variance, is represented by the variable related to the use of the social services (SS_NOUSA). In the same way, variables such as formal aid (use of social services) and informal aid (LEAY_NO and AYUA_NO) are related to this. It is indeed in the neighborhoods with low rate of use of social services where we found the higher relative presence of older adults who do not receive any help from their family. This problematical situation affects widowed women with low income who do not have children in most of the cases (HIJOSNO). Also, neighborhoods with higher percentages of people who do not use social services occur, above all, in neighborhoods with higher rates of population younger than 75 years. In this case, 57.5 percent of the elderly people do not use the center for elderly people due to lack of interest, mostly, in Cartuja and Almanjáyar. In the opposite way, neighborhoods with higher rates of people who use the center for elderly people are located in the neighborhoods (Doctores, Ronda). Daily mobility is related to the access to social services and urban equipment. It is conditioned by the socioeconomic factors of the older adult (academic studies, income), and the inhabited space (housing conditions, architectural barriers, equipment and urban services, delinquency). The main problem of the neighborhood is delinquency (67 percent), above all in Norte and Albaicín neighborhoods, followed far by the problem of the public transportations (12.8 percent) (table 4), and both set a condition to the daily mobility of the older adults and the habitability of the neighborhoods. In Genil (Cervantes) and Ronda (Fígares, Camino de Ronda), there are higher rates of people concerned about public transportation, lighting and street cleanliness, pollution and, mostly, delinquency. Also, in this space we notice a higher socioeconomic status, more daily mobility and frequency of displacements (on foot and by public transportation), access to social services (center for elderly people) and urban equipment (public parks, commercial areas) and practice of leisure and free time activities. In the opposite way, districts with lower socioeconomic status, (Norte and Albaicín) (table 4), record lower rates of people concerned on public

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transportation and environmental pollution. However, there are higher rates of elderly people concerned about delinquency, traffi cking and health services, a fact which coincides with a lower daily mobility and access to the services (social and health) as well as with urban equipment (public parks).

In last place, the coexistence factors explains 4.76 percent of the total variance, and includes the coexistence variable (SATCONVR). Family continues being the only alternative for most elderly people, given the fact that more than three quarters receive help from family and one out of ten live in the house of one of their children, whereas only 2.9 percent asserts to obtain help from social services. In the same way, 82 percent of the older adults prefers to age in their home address, however, three out of four houses have habitability problems which make it diffi cult or impossible for the elderly to receive help in their households. We noticed that neighborhoods with higher percentage of elderly people who are satisfi ed in coexistence (Pajaritos, Cervantes), tend to have a slight prevalence of people who confess to live well in the city, who don’t live alone, who have children alive and who are over 75 years of age. Conversely, neighborhoods with higher dissatisfaction in the familial and neighbor coexistence and living in Granada are located in Norte periphery (Cartuja) and Albaicín (Sacromonte, Albaicín). They record higher rates of people with lower residential seniority and more loneliness, poverty and immigration problems. The problem of loneliness affects one out of four elderly adults (28.1 percent), above all, women who are 75 or older, widow, who perceive their health status as bad (43.3 percent), who have problems in the public health (42.9 percent), who do not receive help from anyone (57.6 percent), who live in a house that needs to be improved and who do not enjoy living in such a house (54.8 percent), who rarely go out to the street (52.2 percent) and who are severely affected by delinquency (30 percent). Most elderly people assert to have a good relation with their family, above all in the neighborhoods such as Albaicín, Centro and Beiro. However, it can be seen that living alone scares a third of the married elderly people. In fact, in Centro neighborhood more than a fourth of the older adults already live alone, and in Albaicín, Ronda and Zaidín, they are between 20 and 25 percent.

Which factors explain the habitability of the environmental urban context for the older adult? The results from the factorial analysis allow us to explain 71.48 percent of the total variance. This sets a condition for the habitability of the inhabited space (housing, neighborhood) of the older

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Tab

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adult, according to socioeconomic factors (income, housing conditions, urban equipment) and factors of spatial subjectivity (closeness to family and neighbors, sense of belonging, rooting).

Some researchers (Hägerstrand, 2000: 107-132) are in favor of the use of extensive descriptions of the environmental contexts of older adults as a research technique, without developing a theory on the empirical data, given the fact that added empirical information (factor analysis) neither explains nor identifi es the aged individual and their spatial experiences in the environmental context of housing and neighborhood. In the same line, we state the hypothesis that the rest of the total variance (28.52 percent) is explained by means of factors related to the fulfi llment of the personal satisfaction expectations and their relation to the habitability of the environmental context (subjective well-being, residential satisfaction), and not much by the environmental factors related to the living conditions or the neighborhood (Phillips et al., 2005: 2785-2797). Spatial experience is here related to the residential satisfaction, residential seniority, familial and neighbor solidarity, the housing (if it has to be improved or not) in which they set up their projects and the proximity of the equipment and memories of their neighborhood. The spatial experience is also related to negative aspects of fragility of memory, loneliness, abandonment from children, social exclusion, poverty, delinquency, physical and mental barriers, the need to abandon the house due to improvements in their spaces and help to dependency, and problems from the adaption to a new household and familial neighborhood (overcrowding, disorientation).

Spatial distribution of the habitability of the environmental contextThe multivariate classifi cation techniques (factorial punctuations and cluster analysis) applied to the results of the factor analysis added by sections and neighborhoods have allowed us to classify and map the social urban areas, relatively homogeneous, according to the spatial experience of the older adult; this fact explains the unequal spatial distribution of the habitability of the urban environmental context, and sets a condition to the residential satisfaction.

The likelihood criterion was the correlation coeffi cient applied to the factor punctuations of the seven factors obtained in each area of study. The resulting dendrogram allowed grouping the census sections in four kinds of social areas after having chosen a cut distance that is adequate to a

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number of sections. The kinds of social areas that resulted from the cluster analysis in the case of the census sections provide the following generic characterization:

The fi rst kind (map 4) consists of very aged neighborhoods, consolidated in urban terms, and with high socioeconomic level, such as that of Centro districts and, above all, Ronda. In these spaces we found a higher presence of people with a high level of instruction and who have developed liberal professions. Problems of loneliness and lack of familial support were also recorded. There is also a high satisfaction in the housing, both in the Centro district, it requires reforms, and in Ronda, where houses have the necessary resources. Neighborhoods have a high level of satisfaction, related to the localization of quality services.

The second kind (map 4) consists of aged neighborhoods of Beiro and Genil districts, an area with a high socioeconomic level. There is a signifi cant presence of aged people in these neighborhoods and some of them have performed liberal professions, this fact contributes to the existence of good pensions and houses that have the necessary resources. There is also a high satisfaction in the houses and neighborhoods. These favorable aspects are related to the lower proportion of elderly people with social isolation problems.

The third kind (map 4) consists of aged neighborhoods, with low income and low level of instruction, from the peripheral districts of Chana and Zaidín, and the central district of Albaicín. Octogenarian women, widows that live alone without formal help, prevail in this spaces. In the Albaicín (Sacromonte, Albaicín) neighborhoods there is a higher relative presence of people with low satisfaction in housing that needs reforms and resources. However, in spite of delinquency and problems to access to urban services, there is a high preference for those neighborhoods.

The fourth kind (map 4) consists of not very aged neighborhoods with a low socio economic level of Norte periphery (Almanjáyar, Cartuja, La Paz, Casería de Montijo). There are higher rates of illiterate people in these neighborhoods, with subsistence economies (poverty), immigrants (Moroccan, Romanian) who do not receive informal help. Despite recording signifi cant problems in the houses related to needs for improvements and basic resources, we see high rates of satisfaction in the houses of the older adults. In the same way, they perceive a lower satisfaction and habitability in the neighborhoods; this is a result of the signifi cant problems of marginalization and delinquency, signifi cant scarcities in social and health services, as well as in urban equipment.

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Our analysis provides an interesting discovery, the existence of neighborhoods in Granada city which do not fi t in the Neo-positivist theories of habitability of environmental contexts, based on a material explanation related to socioeconomic factors (income, material conditions of the house, equipment and services). We have confi rmed the existence of peripheral neighborhoods (Fargue and Bobadilla) and some close to the historic center (Pajaritos and Doctores), which record high satisfaction of the house and neighborhood related to the closeness of family and neighbors, and rooting, in spite of the signifi cant scarcities recorded in their own houses (needs of reforms and lack of resources) and in their neighborhoods (lack of equipment and services). These arguments allow us to state the hypothesis that in specifi c inhabited spaces, with great belonging and rooting signifi cance to the spaces, the qualitative factors (or habitability perceived by the older adult) prevail over the traditional quantitative factors (income, material conditions of the house, equipment and urban services).

The residential satisfaction of the elderly is motivated by their feeling of belonging to their house or neighborhood (experiences, friends, neighbors), which sometimes appears in a nostalgic sense. It is because of that that the elderly do not want to leave their close environment, despite lacking resources in their house, equipment and basic services in the neighborhood. Also, the housing problem in our society continues and states profound contradictions between the need to provide lodging and satisfaction to it. Therefore, we point out that residential satisfaction (housing and neighborhood) in advanced ages is determined by socioeconomic factors (income, level of studies, resources of the house and neighborhood) and psychological (closeness and familial and neighborhood relations, belonging and rooting). In the same way, we found similarities with other research projects (Rojo et al., 2000: 222-233), when considering that residential satisfaction has signifi cant differences among different neighborhoods of the city, and they are not exclusive to a single residential area.

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Debate, refl ections and proposalsThe analysis indicates an improvement in the environmental conditions of the housing (need of reforms and resources) of the new cohorts of older adults (from 65 to 69 years), related to socioeconomic factors (academic background, income) in comparison to older cohorts (80 years and older). However, our previsions indicate an increase of the dependent elderly population and a worsening of the problems to adapt the housing and immediate environment (neighborhood) for the coming cohorts (Escudero, 2003). Also, the economic aid of the Administration of Housing only favors few elderly people and almost never, precisely, to the most needed (women, widows, older than 75 years, illiterate, uninformed, with low income, without formal help, dependent and with housing that requires reforms). It is verifi ed that older adults, above all women who are 75 or older, spend almost their entire time in at their households, so habitability inside and outside their house becomes a key factor for their well-being and in the gerontological planning of the city. The domestic space, private or familial, is an essential territory for the subject, however, their adaptation problems, fl exibility and access (internal distribution, different needs in their life cycles), give it great importance in advanced ages (Golant, 2002: 189-370).

Results show that the spatial experience in advanced age, determined by quantitative factors and, above all, qualitative, help us understand the heterogeneous perception of habitability in the urban environmental context and the unequal spatial distribution of the residential satisfaction in the city. An older adult seems to be in love with their neighborhood, even if it seems to be abandoned, a fact that does not imply that the elderly person is not able to recognize its differences, nevertheless that feeling delivers a spontaneous emotion, a subjective ideal: feeling at home, that is, to have an identifi cation with the place that articulates the collective memory (Guano, 2003). These are lively spaces, daily spaces full of values and subjective representations for the older adults, and it goes beyond the place space in which physical, social and affective distances are integrated, as well as its complexities (Golant, 2002: 189-370).

The unequal mobility of the quotidian life of the elderly is subordinated to the process of capital reproduction. However, we consider that the personal conditions (dependence, familial closeness, social and familial network) can help us to better understand the probability of using public transport, access to urban services and socio-spatial communication (Smith and Hiltner, 1988: 504-513).

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There are stressed inequalities in terms of health in the demographic ageing and in their geographical distribution (Rodríguez et al., 2003: 43-46). The perceived state of health and morbidity are determined by population according to age, gender, size of the house, rent and, above all, level of instruction (Ham-Chande and González, 2008: 35-58), but it is also determined according to the environmental context (housing and neighborhood). One can see that the closeness of public parks, such as that called Garcia Lorca in Camino de Ronda neighborhood, to the inhabited space contributes to improve the habitability of elderly people, favoring their health conditions, their leisure practice (walking) and their social relations (Takano et al., 2002: 913-918). Hence, it is assumed that the group in 65 years or older is heterogeneous in its problems and needs, a circumstance that is not well adopted by the different administrations. We notice the increase in problems such as unemployment, poverty and marginalization of families, above all among immigrants in Norte zone (Almanjáyar, Cartuja). This fact contributes to the deterioration of the familial ties, putting at risk the informal familial assistance and increasing mistreatment and loneliness problems of the elderly.

Among the stated hypothesis and the future lines of research, we highlight the conjecture arguing that long-lived individuals are related in a transverse way to their spatial experiences (daily activities, residential satisfaction, sense of place, sense of belonging, rooting), that is, cyclical relations of deep signifi cation between territories and human beings who were born in that time. Likewise, we recommend increasing research on residential satisfaction of the elderly in the city. We noticed that the spatial distribution of the psychic-physical well-being factor is correlated to the perception of health state and the concern on the delinquency problem. Here we wonder if there would be a relation between delinquency in the neighborhood and the state of health of aged people. How does the perception on delinquency impact the appearance of specifi c psychological illnesses in older adults? It is necessary to research in a more exhaustive way their possible connections. Among the proposals for the gerontological urban planning, we highlight the need to promote the adaptation of private and public spaces, and to prioritize the access to social and health services. They shall be adapted to the socio-spatial and cultural needs of the different urban environmental contexts for older adults. There have to be universal social services adapted to different urban spaces, they shall promote integration of older adults to their environmental and collective contexts, and this shall not be done by means of social policies for specifi c groups that promote socio-spatial exclusion (Gypsy, Moroccan, Romanian).

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We think that it is necessary to reorganize and increase the social and assistance network of the city. This theory is supported by the fact that more than 1 500 people are in the waiting list to enter in the residence of third age.

It is necessary to increase multidisciplinary research on the spatial behavior and the environmental context of the urban older adults, taking into consideration the different administrations on the housing topic and increasing in a considerable way the amount of economic assistance. We ought to recall that the economic cost of adapting houses to the needs and desires of elderly people is considerably lower than other current alternatives (medical, pharmacy, assistance expenditure) and, also, it is a reivindication to the association of older adults. In the same way, a responsible and inclusive urbanization is a priority; it shall favor the adaptation of urban spaces by means of universal and integrative designs. It is necessary to boost the elimination of physical and mental barriers, by means of the promotion of public transportation adapted to the access to safe, cultural and ecological spaces, such as the creation of public parks, plazas and threes on the streets in the historical centers and peripheral marginalized neighborhoods.

ConclusionsThe world is facing the challenge of understanding one of the biggest socio-demographic challenges of its history: urban demographic ageing, in which issues related to environmental contexts will have a determining role in social policies and urban planning. This study refl ects the advance of demographic ageing in the city of Granada, whose effects in the fi rst decades of the XXI century will be the progressive homogenization and feminization of the phenomenon, joined by a signifi cant increase of the dependence which will require the design and adaptation of spaces and private and public services.

The multifactorial analysis has enabled us to understand the vast complexity of the quantitative and qualitative factors which condition the habitability of the environmental context of elderly people in Granada city. The study indicates that the global and spatial problematic of the older adults in Granada is grave and increasing (poverty, health, dependence, loneliness, habitability of housing and access to urban environment) due to the demographic process, lack of social policies and lack of gerontological urban planning. In fact, two out of three elderly people in Granada, above all women who are 75 years or older, experience inadequate habitability

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in their environmental contexts (housing and neighborhood), and it is far from the yearned welfare State of the European Union.

The study on the quantitative parameters (income, material conditions of the housing, equipment and urban services) indicates us that material habitability and spatial access for older adults is determined according to their socio-demographic and economic characteristics, as well as by the available supply of services and equipment in the urban space of Granada. However, we state the hypothesis that the habitability that is perceived in the elderly in the city is a consequence of qualitative parameters (closeness to family, neighbors, rooting) and they can prevail over the quantitative ones. This circumstance is yet to be verifi ed in further studies, but it demonstrates different contradictions in the habitability model proposed by our society and casts doubt on the traditional methods of analysis on the environmental context of the elderly, setting new challenges to researchers. The study shows that the city of Granada has a dynamic and changing relation in the physical and social contexts of aged individuals throughout advanced ages, and it is related to the spatial experience and rooting when ageing in the place of origin. It is necessary to invest on improving the environmental contexts, by means of new socio-assistance services and, above all, on gerontological research, in order to respond to new questions: How will the new urban older adults face the progressive disappearance of the welfare system in the country? What will be the negative collateral effects of the world economic crisis on future social policies aimed at the elderly and the gerontological urban planning of the cities? Cities have more and more citizens, and it will be necessary to tackle the ageing issue by means of gerontological urban planning, resulting from the collaboration and understanding between multidisciplinary teams (architects, engineers, geographers, sociologists, economists, social workers, psychologists, doctors and other professionals), so that the habitability conditions (housing, neighborhood and city) necessary for a population that ages are met. To improve the habitability of environmental contexts in advanced ages shall be a global goal of humankind, however, systems to improve it are different according to cultures and urban and rural societies. It is necessary for gerontological planning to foresee the distortions and defi ciencies of the goods and urban services and, above all, to aim at the fulfi llment of the inhabited space in an individual and collective way.

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The progressive knowledge of the properties of the environmental contexts and their possible relations with the habitability of the older adults shall enable a more rational urban elderliness, in which old people, almost isolated and forgotten, recover their space and social importance. Only education and research can force that necessary change for the future of our society.

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Diego SÁNCHEZ-GONZÁLEZ

He holds a Ph. D in Geography and Territorial Order. He holds a Ma. In Social Gerontology and a degree in Geography from Granada University. He is part of the Architecture Faculty at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He is part of the System National of Researchers, Conacyt; a member of Sociedad Española de Geriatría y Gerontología, Madrid, Spain, and collaborates with research groups of Spain and Mexico. He is a coordinator and consultant in research projects focused on urban development and demographic ageing, in Mexico. Among his published works, stand out four books, 23 chapters in books and eight papers. He has delivered conferences in more than fi fty international events. He has been awarded several national and international distinctions.E-mail address: [email protected]

VELA PEÓN, F. and D. CASTILLO FERNÁNDEZ, 2005, “Envejecimiento demográfi co en México. Evaluación de los datos censales por edad y sexo, 1970-2000”, in Papeles de Población, num. 45, CIEAP/UAEM, Toluca.WAHL, Hans-Werner, R. SCHEIDT and P. WINDLEY, 2003, “Aging in context: socio-physical environments”, in Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, vol. 23, Springer Publishing Company, NewYork.WARNES, A. M., 1990, “Geographical questions in gerontology: needed directions for research”, in Progress in Human Geography, num. 14, SAGE Publications, London.YBÁÑEZ ZEPEDA, E., R. ALARCÓN, 2007, “Envejecimiento y migración en Baja California”, en Frontera Norte, vol. 19, num. 38, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.