Neighborhood design and active aging

Abstract

This qualitative analysis of focus groups describes how neighborhood design encourages active aging. Nine focus groups were conducted in 2002 and 2003 with residents ($N=60$) aged 55 and over living in Portland, OR, USA. Content analysis revealed that local shopping and services, traffic and pedestrian infrastructure, neighborhood attractiveness, and public transportation influence activity among older adults. This information will be useful for making policy recommendations relating to land use planning and transportation, to assist in senior-friendly developments and neighborhood improvements, and to design effective senior health interventions with an emphasis on neighborhood design influences.

Introduction

Few factors contribute as clearly to successful aging as having a physically active lifestyle (Rowe and Kahn, 1998). Despite known benefits (Singh, 2002), activity levels decline with age (DiPietro, 2001). A trans-disciplinary research agenda is focusing on how policy and community design can promote more active lives (see for example, Owen et al., 2004; Humpel et al., 2002).

Research in the transportation, urban planning, and public health fields indicates that people are more active in accessible neighborhoods with mixed land uses, high street connectivity, and greater population density (Handy et al., 2002; Saelens et al., 2003). This research has rarely focused on special populations, such as seniors (Cunningham and Michael, 2004; Frank et al., 2003; Ory et al., 2003). The history of research in environmental gerontology, or the study of physical environment on older adults, began in the 1960s (Hans-Werner and Weisman, 2003). The theoretical advances in this field have not been successfully translated into the current research and applications related to community design. Additionally, few empirical studies identify built or social environmental features based on the perspective of seniors (Feldman and Oberlink, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the literature and to answer the research question: How does neighborhood design encourage or inhibit active aging according to older adults?

This qualitative analysis is part of a larger project that will be used to develop tools to evaluate the specific neighborhood aspects important for successful aging. “Active aging” describes the desire and ability of older adults to integrate physical activity into daily routines, such as walking for transportation, exercise, or pleasure. Active aging may also include engagement in economic or socially productive activities, such as playing in the park with grandchildren and working in the home or yard.