Ageing in Place: The Out-of-Home Travel Patterns of Seniors in Victoria and its Policy Implications

Abstract

The decade immediately after the end of the Second World War gave rise to three key societal developments in Australia—a dramatic increase in the birth rate and car ownership, plus an acceleration of the suburbanisation process. Five decades later, these three developments would converge and give rise to a new public policy problem: a spatially dispersed ageing population. To address this problem, Australia has opted for an ‘ageing in place’ strategy. While this strategy has been embraced by many, it poses a number of serious challenges for both policymakers and seniors alike. Foremost amongst them is the issue of being able to access outside of the home those things that are deemed essential to one's well-being and quality of life. This article explores this issue through an assessment of the out-of-home travel behaviour of a sample of seniors who live in or on the outskirts of metropolitan Melbourne. It investigates why seniors in three different case study areas need to travel outside the home, how often and how far, plus what modes of transportation are used. The study establishes that if an ageing in place strategy is to continue then seniors must be able to access a wide range of services and facilities either in their immediate neighbourhood or surrounding area. Urban and regional planners will need to respond to this emerging issue as the number of seniors projected to retire and live on into their late 80s is going to triple in the coming decades.

第二次世界大战之后的十年中, 澳大利亚经历了三个方面的快速社会发展——一是出生率的骤增, 一是汽车拥有率的骤增, 再有就是市郊化进程的加速。50年后, 这三种发展融为一体, 并导致了一个问题：一个空间上分散的老龄人口。这个问题呼吁新的公共政策。为了解决这一问题, 澳大利亚采取了“就地养老”的策略。这一策略受到很多人的欢迎, 却也给政策制定者和老年人制造了一些严重的问题。最大的问题就是从居所外获得优质生活所必备的条件。为了探讨这一问题, 本文对居住在墨尔本市内和市郊的老年人出行行为做了抽样调查。调查试图了解三个案例研究地区老人年的出行目的、出行频率、出行距离, 以及使用何种交通工具。研究发现只有让老年人在所居住社区或周边地区获得各种服务和设施, 就地养老策略才能够持续下去。在未来几十年内, 退休并存活到80岁以后的老年人口将三倍于目前水平, 城市和区域规划者必须对此做出回应。

Keywords:

• Ageing in place, seniors
• out-of-house travel
• policy implications
• policy implications

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge funding support for this project from the Office of Seniors Victoria and the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, RMIT University.