Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 3 of 3 items for
- Author or Editor: Charles Musselwhite x
Physical space and the built environment is gendered. This chapter draws on recent UK research on how older men’s connections are enabled or restricted by different aspects of the built environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 48 participants (24 male; 24 female) aged over 65 years to explore their mobility needs. The findings are framed around mobility capital theory (Musselwhite and Scott, 2019) of infrastructure capital (physical properties of space, pavements, roads, bridges), individual capital (people’s skills, abilities, aptitudes, resilience), social capital (friends, family, other significant people) and cultural capital (societal norms, rules, laws). Key to successful connectivity in later life is good quality infrastructure, but men are much more likely to rely on this alone to connect to the things they want to do and people they want to. They are less likely to use social connections than women and have less cultural and individual capital to draw upon which have been richly formed during the life course for women. Recommendations are formed around improving men’s social capital and creating more opportunity for older men to socialise is important.
Older people are travelling more than previous generations, especially by private vehicle. By contrast there has been a decline in car use among the younger population. We highlight how many of the reasons for these trends lie outside the transport sector. Younger people are living at home longer, delaying getting married and having children later in life. A decline in young people’s disposable income, a growth in low-end service jobs and the rise of precarious employment are also likely to be key contributors to a reduction in car use, especially with rising learning to drive and insurance costs. Younger people are also more likely to live in urban areas, which means less need for private vehicles. Older people are more likely to live in dispersed communities that require a car to access services and shops. They are less likely to use the internet for shopping, for accessing services and for staying connected to people. They have lived through a time of increased reliance and norms around using the car and continue this into later life. Examining mobility in relation to age suggests a need to look at how transport matters from the viewpoint of individuals and their relationship with society.
Transport policy for rural elders has traditionally focussed on deficits in access to ‘subsistence’ needs, such as food and healthcare. The chapter considers the limitations of the past approach for wellbeing, presenting the case for a holistic perspective: the continuum of mobilities (literal, virtual, potential and imaginative). Each is regarded as having different importance for quality of life, with individuals drawing variously on the different types at different lifecourse stages. The chapter applies the continuum towards understanding some key rural transport policy dilemmas for elders, relating to social exclusion and car dependence. It is concluded that, for the majority of rural elders, a combination of walking and car use underpin mobility and connectivity, but public transport plays an important secondary role and virtual mobility is of growing importance. For the minority that reports major difficulties in achieving the levels of mobility they desire, the absence of car access is one important factor. Looking to the future, the likely rise of virtual mobility to address subsistence needs will place greater emphasis on social connectivity as a motivation for maintaining physical activity. The findings concerning imaginative mobility suggest both an important role for design in producing legible environments and a therapeutic role.
