[Zurück]

A. Gabauer, J. Lehner:
"Everday geographies of age(ing).";
Vortrag: AESOP Annual Congress 2019, Venedig; 09.07.2019 - 13.07.2019.

In the context of an ageing population, growing life expectancy and with it a larger share of very old
persons, questions of access to housing and public spaces present growing challenges to many
cities. Hence, one of the key challenges for cities in Europe is the provision of healthy
neighborhoods. This paper focuses on different discourses within spatial disciplines on age(ing)
challenging issues of inequality and social injustice. This means perceiving age as an essential
marker of difference in two respects: first, in relation to other categories such as gender, class,
ethnicity (intersectionality) and second, as relational in respect of its characteristic as process. This
paper aims at scrutinizing the interplay of age(ing), social justice and space through focusing on
the intersection between public space and housing. In this context, questions about access to
housing and public spaces in cities are tackled from a perspective of everyday realities.
Particularly, if ageing in one´s own living environment is to be supported for psychological, social
and economic reasons, appropriate healthy neighborhoods are needed. In the paper, we argue
that innovative research methodologies are required in order to adequately react in urban planning
and design to the creation of healthy neighborhoods. The question is what kind of methods are
needed for an exploration of age(ing) at the intersection of housing and public space? To pursue
this question, we present our research on the "hidden geographies of age(ing)" in everyday
routines of elderly through selected cases of socially innovative housing in Vienna. The cases were
selected based on their potential to reshape the lifestyle and everyday practices of elderly, and to
assure spatial justice. For the paper, we discuss the applied methods of Walking Interviews and
Mapping as tools to uncover the "hidden geographies" that allow or inhibit elderly to age in healthy
environments.