Transformation of Urban Space for the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Relevance. In this study, based on empirical data, the features of meanings and the role of spaces, solidarity with space for the older during the COVID-19 pandemic are considered.The purpose is to study how the urban space of St. Petersburg for the older changes during the pandemic, how difficulties, inequalities and barriers arise in the urban space for this category of citizens, how the meanings of the spaces familiar to it change.Objectives. The object of the study is older people — residents of a large metropolis, St. Petersburg. The subject of the study: assessment of the urban environment and features of solidarity with the space of the older. The objectives of the study are to study the peculiarities of transformations of urban spaces in the lives of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic and the peculiarities of the older themselves understanding such transformations.Methodology. The research methods are: interviews-conversations with older people. The informants of the study are older people of different ages, from 65 to 86 years old, living in the old and new districts of St. Petersburg. Results. Based on interviews with older residents of cities, we were able to identify and identify key features in the framework of the interaction of older people with urban spaces. Among the main problems that older people noted in interviews is the loss of the instrumental capabilities of the city itself, namely the availability of pharmacies and shops, as well as the emergence of various fears associated with the possibility of contracting a new coronavirus infection when interacting with people during visits to shops and other public places.Conclusions. The older age in a limited and closed urban space becomes a kind of frame that sets special conditions for the perception of urban spaces as maximally closed and unfriendly for the older. The total transformation of the meanings of familiar spaces as the attachment of older people to urban spaces is becoming more pronounced and obvious, and the key in this case is that new solidarity and new practices are emerging within the most narrowed and most accessible spaces.