Shrinking Cities as Retirement Cities? Opportunities for Shrinking Cities as Green Living Environments for Older Individuals

Merten Nefs, Susana Alves, Ingo Zasada and Dagmar Haase
Additional contact information
Merten Nefs: Deltametropolis Association, PO Box 600, 3000 AP Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Susana Alves: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture, Okan Üniversitesi, Tuzla Kampüsü, 34959 Akfιrat-Tuzla, İstanbul, Turkey
Ingo Zasada: Institute of Socio-Economics, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, (ZALF) Müncheberg, Germany
Dagmar Haase: Department of Landscape Ecology at the Humboldt University Berlin and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Environment and Planning A, 2013, vol. 45, issue 6, 1455-1473

Abstract: Increasingly, policy makers and planners must develop strategies to cope with urban shrinkage. This paper proposes that active retirement migration and health tourism can be parts of such strategies. Shrinking cities, normally observed as less competitive, could develop advantages over other cities with respect to attracting retirees if their spatial conditions were used effectively. By converting vacant space or improving access to high-quality green space, shrinking cities can attract retirees in search of quality of life, who in turn might represent a crucial catalyst in urban renewal for shrinking cities. The authors conclude that the potential of shrinking cities as green retirement cities can be considered by integrating existing research concepts: eg, green space typologies and the functionality of public space for older individuals. Furthermore, recent practical studies suggest that the potential for shrinking cities as retirement cities exists. However, the potential has led to specific policy to only a limited extent. Despite substantial opportunities, many challenges arise when this idea is put into practice. Therefore, recommendations are made at the end of this paper for addressing this topic in future research and urban planning.

Keywords: retirement migration; ageing; living environment; environmental affordances; green open space; urban green space; shrinking city; quality of life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:6:p:1455-1473

DOI: 10.1068/a45302

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