From Sociospatial Experiences to Well-Being: Implications for Aging in Place

Abstract

Acquiring sociospatial experiences at nested geographical scales is a lifelong meaning construction process, and this has great implications for aging in place. Various experiences trigger older people’s attitudinal and sentimental reflections regarding how they evaluate and attach themselves to where they live; this invokes residential satisfaction, and subsequently, place attachment. Through a questionnaire survey of 501 community-dwelling individuals aged sixty-five and older in Hong Kong, an ultra-high-density Asian city, this article examines the relationship between sociospatial experiences and well-being through a sequential path analysis model. It identifies five dimensions of sociospatial experiences: “homes and housing estate,” “social environment,” “living convenience,” “pedestrian experience,” and “blue and green” features. All dimensions predict emotional, social, and psychological well-being via residential satisfaction and then place attachment. Place attachment is a more robust mechanism than residential satisfaction in the environment–well-being association. Developing a satisfying relationship, and subsequently, functional and emotional links with the place of residence, is conducive to achieving well-being. This uncovers an important mechanism of person–environment interactions for aging in place.

在多层次地理尺度上获得社会空间体验, 是终生的意义建构过程, 对就地养老具有重要意义。不同的经历, 引发了老年人对评价和依附于居住地的态度反思和情感反思；这带来了居住满意度, 进而引发了场所依附。在亚洲超高密度城市香港, 基于对501名65岁以上社区居民的问卷调查, 本文通过序列路径分析模型, 探讨了社会空间体验与健康的关系。本文确定了社会空间体验的五个维度：家和住宅区、社会环境、生活便利、行人体验和蓝绿特征。基于居住满意度和场所依附, 这五个维度预测了情感、社会和心理健康。在环境—健康关系中, 场所依附比居住满意度有更强的影响力。与居住地建立和谐的关系、建立功能和情感上的联系, 都有助于健康。本文揭示了人与环境相互作用与就地养老之间关系的重要机理。

Adquirir las experiencias socioespaciales a escalas geográficas anidadas es proceso de toda una vida para la construcción de significados, lo cual tiene grandes implicaciones para envejecer en un lugar. Diversas experiencias desencadenan en las personas de mayor edad reflexiones actitudinales y sentimentales sobre cómo ellas evalúan y se vinculan a los lugares donde residen; esto invoca la satisfacción residencial y posteriormente el apego al lugar. Con una encuesta de cuestionario para 501 individuos mayores de 65 años que residen comunitariamente en Hong Kong, una urbe asiática de alta densidad, este artículo examina la relación entre las experiencias socioespaciales y el bienestar, por medio de un modelo de análisis secuencial de trayectoria. El modelo identifica cinco dimensiones de experiencias socioespaciales: “hogares y vivienda en propiedad”, “entorno social”, “comodidades vitales”, “experiencia peatonal” y “rasgos azules y verdes”. Todas las dimensiones predicen el bienestar emocional, social y psicológico a través de la satisfacción residencial, y luego el apego al lugar. El apego al lugar es un mecanismo más robusto que la satisfacción residencial en la asociación medio ambiente–bienestar. Desarrollar una relación satisfactoria y subsiguientemente establecer vínculos funcionales y emocionales con el lugar de residencia, son condiciones favorables para alcanzar el bienestar. Esto destapa un mecanismo importante de interacciones gente–medio ambiente apropiadas para envejecer en un lugar.

Key Words:

• aging in place
• path analysis
• person–environment fit
• place attachment
• sociospatial experiences
• well-being

关键词:

• 就地养老
• 路径分析
• 人与环境匹配
• 场所依附
• 社会空间体验
• 健康。

Palabras clave:

• análisis de trayectoria
• apego al lugar
• bienestar
• envejecer en el lugar
• experiencias socioespaciales
• encuadre persona–entorno

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the constructive comments from four anonymous reviewers and the editor. Our thanks must also go to all participants and elderly centers in Hong Kong who supported the questionnaire survey.

Notes

1 Functioning is described as “eudemonic,” referring to judgment about meanings and purposes in life (Steptoe, Deaton, and Stone 2015). Well-being means doing what is worth doing to develop “a life well-lived” (Michaelson et al. 2014, 566). Evaluations include overall quality or goodness of life in terms of what matters and whether life is going well (Steptoe, Deaton, and Stone 2015). In Keyes’s (2003) triadic framework, emotional well-being mainly refers to happiness and positive affect. Social and psychological well-being are functioning aspects, including purpose in life, personal growth, autonomy, social integration, social contribution, and so on.

2 Eight questions are as follows: (1) where I live means a lot to me; (2) I am attached to where I live; (3) I identify strongly with the place I live; (4) I have a special connection to the place I live and people living here; (5) I enjoy living here more than any other place; (6) I get more satisfaction out of living here than any other place of residence; (7) Living in my current place of residence is more important than living in any other place; and (8) I would not substitute any other place for the type of ways of life I do here. The first four items are about emotional attachment or place identity, and the remaining items are about place dependence.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (Project Number: 2019.A6.145.19D) from the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (CUHK14613320), and the Research Sustainability of Major RGC Funding Schemes 2018-19—Environmental Health and Environmental Justice at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We would like to thank the Research Institute for Smart Aging of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the PhD funding support.

Notes on contributors

Yi Sun

YI SUN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include age-friendly built environment, urban and regional planning, land governance, and state theories.

Mee Kam Ng

MEE KAM NG is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include urban planning and governance, strategic spatial planning, production of space and the politics of planning, urban regeneration, sustainable development, and community planning.

Anson Kai Chun Chau

ANSON KAI CHUN CHAU is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the CUHK Institute of Health Equity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include loneliness and its role in the development of psychopathology, and psychosocial processes underlying healthy aging.

Shi Chen

SHI CHEN is a PhD Student in the Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include age-friendly cities and communities, advanced spatial analysis for person–environment interactions, and walkability.