Summary and Conclusions

Abstract

Modern societies are facing dramatic processes of demographic aging. Corresponding to these upheavals, the regional living conditions of the elderly are experiencing very rapid change. The aim of this research is to study significant implications of these changes for the environmental interactions of older persons. In developing the theoretical framework, the three dimensions of spatial organization, utilization and interpretation were identified as essential for the study of their experiences with the outside world. A primary focus of this comparative study is: how are increased opportunities for social and spatial participation and self-fulfillment used by the elderly as a function of their recent and prospective environmental interactions? Age-specific developments of individuals are usually analyzed by longitudinal studies. Here, however, cross-sectional surveys were conducted, focusing on elderly in cultural and regional settings representing different intensities of sociodemographic and environmental change. Under convergence-theoretical assumptions this comparison permits insights into successive spatial-temporal stages of transitions within post-industrial societies.