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Local Environments and Activity in Later Life: Meaningful Experiences in Green and Blue Spaces

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Book cover Physical Activity and Sport in Later Life

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Abstract

Populations across much of the world are ageing. In the UK, 1 in 5 people will be aged 65 and over by 2020 (Allen, 2008). This has sparked growing interest in the potential to develop ‘healthy communities which support older people to live lives which are as fulfilling as possible’ (Department of Health, 2001: 107). Such interest is based on the recognition that, contrary to existing narratives of decline, ‘old age can also be marked by the acquisition of new roles and, potentially, be a flourishing time of mobility and new creativity’ (Gilroy, 2012: 74–75).

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© 2015 Sarah L. Bell and Benedict W. Wheeler

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Bell, S.L., Wheeler, B.W. (2015). Local Environments and Activity in Later Life: Meaningful Experiences in Green and Blue Spaces. In: Tulle, E., Phoenix, C. (eds) Physical Activity and Sport in Later Life. Global Culture and Sport Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-42932-2_16

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