Luca Daconto (p), Simone Caiello (p), Matteo Colleoni

Aleid Brouwer

The paper proposes a method for analysing the levels of walkability offered to the elderly population and presents the results of its application to the case of the municipality of Milan. The method has been developed in the framework of the FoodNET research project, whose aim is to build an online platform able to provide guidelines and technologies to improve elders’ access to food in the city.
The presentation of the method, based on the use of open data and GIS, and of the results, focused on the identification of socio-spatial inequalities and of disadvantaged areas in terms of walkability, is preceded by a review of the relationship between pedestrian mobility and the elderly people’s quality of life, of the determinants of walkability and the techniques used in the research for its detection.

Elena Maggi (p), Evangelia Pantelaki , Daniele Crotti

Aleid Brouwer

Mobility in later life is a key determinant. Even though it has been studied by scholars in medicine, sociology, transport and urban planning, related findings are indeed exploited within each discipline and thus potential spillovers have not been pointed out yet. Contributing to filling this gap, this study is a multidisciplinary systematic review aiming at informing researchers and academics in these disciplines for the impacts of elderly mobility on dimensions of well-being and quality of life. We searched for peer-reviewed articles in a general electronic database (Scopus) published from 2010-2019. Sixty-two studies met the inclusion criteria, with 42 of the papers coming from medicine, 9 from sociological literature, 9 from transport and 1 from urban planning literature. There are substantial variations and, in some cases, overlaps in the terminology used, the toolkit of measures and the resulting effects. Since the topic of elderly mobility is indeed multidisciplinary, fruitful collaborations of the researchers both theoretically and empirically is highly encouraged in the future.

Mina Akhavan, Ilaria Mariotti (p), Aleid Brouwer

Aleid Brouwer

One of most pressing challenges related to contemporary urban living is certainly the progressive ageing of population at the global level, and particularly in high-income countries. The ageing of the population causes structural problems for e.g. the finance of care or ageing in place. The current generation of people turning old is healthier, more highly educated and more active than any previous generation. The profile of elders, their background and preferences play a key role in shaping their decisions in terms of mobility.
One of the main aspects improving the quality of life of elderly is “mobility”, which encompasses different dimensions of urban life that include housing, transportation, work-related activities and social interactions. Indeed, mobility is better able to capture the relentless changes that accompany urban life. Mobility refers to the ensemble of decisions related to moving from one place to another with the help of transport network and services.
Within this context, the present paper aims at investigating the mobility habits and preferences of elderly people living in the city of Milan, in order to ageing in place. Currently Milan has no comprehensive strategy for facing the challenges of the ageing of its population. Besides, little is known about the transportation patterns of elderly residents of Milan, their actual use of public transport and the perceived barrier to access.
goes certainly in the direction of improving the movement of older people through the city. To reach the aim of the present paper, the results of a survey addressed to elderly living in the city of Milan in the years 2018-2019 are presented in three neighbourhoods characterized by a large share of people aged over 65. These results proxy the stated preferences of the interviews, while the revealed preferences come from an in-depth analysis of the neighbourhood in terms of services supply, Local public transport accessibility, quality of public spaces, etc.