Is Milan a City for Elderly? Mobility for Aging in Place

Abstract

Italy is among the ‘eldest’ countries in the world, with increasing numbers of elderly becoming older and participating in society. In order to ensure that these and future elderly are able to age in place, the possibilities to get around in one’s own neighborhood should be available and safe in use. In order to gain insight in the mobility issues of elderly in Italy we investigated 11 Milanese neighborhoods through in depth interviews to see how elderly perceive their neighborhood in terms of mobility. We find that that the respondent move at least twice a day outside and have a preference for local public transport and walking, followed by the use of the private car. Most of them prefer to age in place and feel happy in their current environment. However, more research needs to be done to give proper policy handles for local municipalities before we can agree what is necessary for age friendly neighborhoods.

Keywords

• Elderly, Mobility, Neighborhood, Milan, Local Public Transport