A number of researchers have suggested that with advancing
age, a person’s geographical area tends to become increasingly limited in space [1–6]. Research that has explored the
question of the meaning of place in different groups indicates
that proximity of neighbours has a greater importance in
the lives of older residents [7]. The neighbourhood is more
significant for older people and the disadvantaged than
for the younger and more affluent, who tend to develop
social networks more diffuse in space [8, 9]. (Following
current conventions, we use the terms “older person” and
“older adult” in reference to people aged 65 years and over.)
Moreover, the neighbourhood and the “home” become key
elements in social life—social relations gradually become
limited to people who live nearby—and also in defining
one’s sense of self, because the neighbourhood provides a
number of identity markers [10].