Participation in urban life and obstacles for mobility of the elderly in Łódź

Abstract

<jats:p>The article analyzes participation of senior citizens in urban life of Łódź in the context of spending their free time. The paper is also aimed at revealing obstacles for their mobility within the city. It occurred that the elderly want to participate more in urban life, especially because of their strong desire to meet other people. However, there are still many barriers, mostly relating to public transport and road infrastructure, that make such participation difficult. Also many deficiencies may be found in seniors’ residential environment as well as in public green areas.</jats:p>

Daily mobility of the elderly: An example from Łódź, Poland

“…aged 60 to 69/74) are characterized by relatively high mobility and involvement in different types of pursuits and activities. This is convergent with what can be concluded from the research conducted by Pielesiak (2017), which indicates that the elderly subjectively feel that younger senior citizens (aged 60-75) participate in urban life to a relatively substantial extent. Noble (2000) points to the decrease in mobility with age, which notes that in addition to the decrease in the number of journeys, the distances traveled and types of transport also change.…”

“…Senior citizens less often spend time outdoors than young people; they rarely go to theatres or cinemas, and consequently they are less frequently encountered in public spaces, which is also confirmed by other research (Borkowska-Kalwas 2002;Halicka and Halicki 2002;Oliwińska 2009;Kubicki 2010;Borowska-Stefańska and Wiśniewski 2019). The results of a 2016 study conducted in Łódź show that senior citizens spend their leisure time in parks/forests (24.6%) and retail facilities (16.5%), meeting friends (13.8%), in the vicinity of their house/block of flats (13.2%), and in public squares (12.8%) (Pielesiak 2017). In addition, our research results show that together with population ageing, there is a decline in mobility levels, which is also confirmed by other research (Hanson 1977;Alsnih and Hensher 2003;Tiitta 2003).…”

“…The significance of mobility and independence in that matter is evidenced by the research results indicating that, on the whole, senior citizens who travel more and are car or van owners evaluate the quality of their life far more positively (Banister and Bowling 2004). Moreover, relatively few respondents take advantage of the leisure or cultural facilities on offer, which may be a result of their low income and architectural and transport barriers (Błędowski and Kubicki 2009;Pielesiak 2017;Borowska-Stefańska and Wiśniewski 2019), or lack of information about current events in the vicinity, etc. The research also suggests that older people's mobility limitations result mainly from their age and health problems.…”

“…Therefore, a drop in car use should be expected with age, while use of public transport for daily journeys should increase. Yet, as it is revealed by both the research conducted in Łódź and, for instance, Sweden, public transport is described by the elderly as expensive and not particularly accessible or safe (while travelling unaccompanied), and passenger information is deemed to be poor (Mackett 2015;Pielesiak 2017;Raczyńska-Buława 2017). The elderly express a range of opinions on public means of transport, emphasising their positive and negative sides (Coughlin 2001).…”