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M. Glaser, E. Althaus, L. Christensen:
"Geographies of Age. Older People´s Housing Situations and Access to Public Life in Times of Crisis";
Talk: Online Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Zürich; 2020-11-07.

Not only the home itself, but also access to urban life plays a central role if `aging in place´ is to succeed, according to WHO policies (WHO 2007). In recent studies we show that the residential area is of great importance as the centre of life in old age and that informal encounters in various public and semi-public spaces from the entrance area to the local pub play a very important role for mental and physical well-being in late life (Christensen and Glaser, 2019; Althaus and Birrer, 2019). Taken on their own, the many spontaneous encounters in the immediate living environment and in the neighbourhood may seem insignificant, but it is precisely in the sum total that they unfold their potential. Accordingly, the possibility of participating in social urban life should be given high priority and guaranteed by low-threshold offers and barrier-free access in financial, physical and social terms. If spaces of encounter, but also social measures to promote neighborhood networking are missing, loneliness can potentially become the downside of self-determined living. Due to the lockdown and quarantine conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic older people´s access to urban life has been severely challenged, in some cases leading to precarious circumstances. The situation of many elderly people has worsened, and their social isolation has increased. We look into the impact of the crisis on the effectively lived everyday experiences in late life and discuss the necessary action strategies to improve the situation.

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_293561.pdf