“Ageing in Place” and Urban Regeneration: Analysing the Role of Social Infrastructure

Camilla Lewis, Sophie Yarker, Mark Hammond, Niamh Kavanagh and Christopher Phillipson
Additional contact information
Camilla Lewis: Department of Architecture, University of Manchester, UK
Sophie Yarker: Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK
Mark Hammond: Department of Architecture, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Niamh Kavanagh: Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK
Christopher Phillipson: Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK

Urban Planning, 2022, vol. 7, issue 4, 523-533

Abstract: This article explores the potential impact of future urban regeneration for older people “ageing in place” in an inner-city neighbourhood, Collyhurst, Manchester, UK. Collyhurst has been reshaped by de-industrialisation, demolition of housing, disinvestment in local services, and the closure of local amenities. The neighbourhood has been earmarked for significant urban regeneration including building extensive housing, as well as social infrastructure to cater for existing residents and attract a new population. The analysis focuses on data derived from interviews and focus groups with the neighbourhood’s existing residents as well as regeneration stakeholders. Drawing on Latham and Layton’s (2019) “infrastructural approach,” the analysis explores the changing dynamics of neighbourhoods and meanings of place for older people living in localities undergoing redevelopment with spatially differentiated socio-economic landscapes. The article argues that social infrastructure must be understood as a foundational component of urban regeneration planning, ensuring new spaces foster social connections for all generations and support older residents’ sense of local identity, belonging and inclusion amidst dramatic material transformation. Social infrastructure provides an important lens through which to analyse the impact of urban regeneration processes, shedding light both on the functional and affective dimensions of ageing in place. In neighbourhoods undergoing redevelopment, both dimensions are vital to consider, in order to understand how best to support older people’s ability to age in place.

Keywords: ageing in place; housing; older people; social infrastructure; urban regeneration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/5689 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v7:y:2022:i:4:p:523-533

DOI: 10.17645/up.v7i4.5689

Access Statistics for this article

Urban Planning is currently edited by Tiago Cardoso

More articles in Urban Planning from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().