TY - JOUR

T1 - Does spatial proximity supplant family ties? Exploring the role of neighborly support for older people in diverse, aging cities

AU - Enßle, Friederike

AU - Dirksmeier, Peter

AU - Helbrecht, Ilse

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under Grant HE 2417/16-1. The funding source had no involvement in any stage of the research. We are thankful to Hannah Haacke, Tobia Lakes and Dagmar Haase for their cooperation in this research project.

PY - 2020/12/4

Y1 - 2020/12/4

N2 - The aging population, coupled with increasing diversification, is currently altering the social fabric of cities worldwide. At the local level, social ties within a neighborhood play a key role in enabling older people to age in familiar surroundings. However, family ties in the neighborhood become less common implying that older people become more dependent on alternative support systems such as friends and neighbors. Drawing from a mixed-method research in Berlin (Germany), focus group discussions (26 participants) and survey data (n= 506), we explore the scope of neighborhood support in later life. Our qualitative findings suggest that women, migrants, and people without families close by primarily provide support to fellow older people. Findings from ordinal regression analysis support this on a larger scale. We conclude that these findings point to a new meaning of spatial proximity for social support in times of weakened family ties and growing diversity in old age.

AB - The aging population, coupled with increasing diversification, is currently altering the social fabric of cities worldwide. At the local level, social ties within a neighborhood play a key role in enabling older people to age in familiar surroundings. However, family ties in the neighborhood become less common implying that older people become more dependent on alternative support systems such as friends and neighbors. Drawing from a mixed-method research in Berlin (Germany), focus group discussions (26 participants) and survey data (n= 506), we explore the scope of neighborhood support in later life. Our qualitative findings suggest that women, migrants, and people without families close by primarily provide support to fellow older people. Findings from ordinal regression analysis support this on a larger scale. We conclude that these findings point to a new meaning of spatial proximity for social support in times of weakened family ties and growing diversity in old age.

KW - Aging population

KW - changing family support

KW - diversity in later life

KW - mixed methods

KW - neighborhood relations

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097126952&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/02723638.2020.1857991

DO - 10.1080/02723638.2020.1857991

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85097126952

VL - 43

SP - 344

EP - 363

JO - Urban geography

JF - Urban geography

SN - 0272-3638

IS - 3

ER -