Ye, Zeqing (2024) Under what spatial conditions do Chinese urban elderly people wish to grow older? Master thesis.
|
Text
Zeqing-Ye-Dissertation-.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Population ageing has become a severe problem faced by all countries in the world. According to the seventh population census, China's population aged 60 and above has reached 264 million, accounting for 18.7% of the total population. Since 2020, China has entered a deep stage of population aging. It is estimated that by 2050, the total number of elderly people in China will exceed 400 million. Population ageing will bring great challenges to China's healthcare, elderly care, social security, and other aspects. In response to population aging, the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to "implement a national strategy to actively respond to population ageing". In addition, active ageing, as a long-term national strategy of China, has been written into the outline of the "14th Five-Year Plan". Ageing in place is currently the mainstream concept in gerontology literature to promote active ageing, which enables older adults to enjoy their later years in familiar family and community settings. It is believed to help older adults maintain independence, autonomy, and access to social support. However, not all external environments are suitable for ageing in place, and different older adults may be different in their most suitable ageing modes. Therefore, answering the question of what kind of older adults in what kind of environmental conditions are more inclined to ageing in place is of great significance for promoting active ageing at a deeper level. At present, there is a considerable amount of literature exploring the impact of different scales of environment on the health and quality of life of older adults from the perspectives of urban planning, sociology, gerontology, and geography of aging. There are also some studies exploring the optimization of space and planning strategies for elderly-friendly and livable environments. However, there is a lack of research on the influence of the environment on older adults' ageing intention. Based on the perspective of active ageing and the theoretical framework of congruence between older adults and the environment, this study uses data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLASS) and the 2019 China Statistical Yearbook, along with research methods such as logistic regression models, ArcGIS spatial data visualization, and interaction effect models, to explore themechanisms that influence the ageing in place intention of older adults with different individual characteristics. The research considers both micro-level community environments and macro-level regional environments. The findings are as follows: (1) Satisfaction with the physical environment of the community has a significant positive impact on older adults' intention of ageing in place. (2) While community social support does not have a direct significant influence on older adults' intention of ageing in place, it can indirectly affect this intention by moderating the influence of the physical environment satisfaction. (3) Regional environments also affect older adults' ageing in place intention. Specifically, warm and humid regions positively influence this intention, while provinces with a higher number of elderly care beds per capita negatively impact it. Additionally, intention of ageing in place is influenced by regional culture. The intention among the elderly in the Northeast Cultural Region and Central China Cultural Region is the highest, while that in the Northwest Cultural Region is the lowest. (4) The interaction between certain individual characteristics of older adults and the environment affects their intention of ageing in place. Older adults with varying health statuses and economic situations exhibit different levels of influence from the environment on their intention. Based on these findings, this study proposes policy recommendations focused on improving the physical and social environments of communities, optimizing the allocation of elderly care resources across different regions, and prioritizing the needs of vulnerable older adults.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Society, Sustainability and Planning (MSc Socio-spatial Planning) |
| Supervisor: | Rijnks, R.H. |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2024 13:49 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Aug 2024 13:49 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4713 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |