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Mobility and Residential Communities: Insights into the Daily Mobility of Elderly People

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Abstract

Community environments are important factors affecting seniors’ daily mobility; however, how environments work still lacks a deep understanding. Therefore, this study selected two of these residential communities in China and explored the relationship between the daily mobility of the elderly and their communities. Through semi-structured interviews, GPS data, and individual case-based analysis, the daily movements and outdoor activities of the older adults in these communities were analyzed. The results show that different communities offer inequable environments for seniors, resulting in their inconsistent daily mobility. As the outcome of person-environment fit, daily mobility is influenced by physical, social, and service aspects of an age-friendly environment. The influences reflect on the objective movement and subjective experience of daily mobility. Specifically, the spatiotemporal distribution of different outdoor activities and their corresponding subjective well-being depend on the fit of the community environment. This study contributes to a better understanding of the daily mobilities of older adults in their living environment.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the support received from the funding agency, the National Natural Science Fund 41771145. Also, we would like to thank for the help from WK, JZJ, HH, JFF, XXD in the process of collecting data.

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  1. School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Meng Yuan, Honggang Xu & Ying Zhao

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  1. Meng Yuan
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  2. Honggang Xu
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  3. Ying Zhao
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Correspondence to Honggang Xu.

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Yuan, M., Xu, H. & Zhao, Y. Mobility and Residential Communities: Insights into the Daily Mobility of Elderly People. J Hous and the Built Environ 38, 1263–1287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-022-09989-3

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