Abstract/Summary

This paper considers the relationships between elderly people in an urban environment, their homes and their neighbourhood. Following on from previous research (Moorer and Suurmeijer 2001) the concept is explored that the elderly residents of sub-urban homes become increasingly interested in the world outside their home, rather than the world within it. The qualitative research methods used to gather this data provide nuanced and detailed personal accounts of the ways that elderly people conceive of the relationship with their home and their surrounding environs, augmenting the predominantly quantitative surveys that have already been done (e.g. Cavalerro et al. 2007). From this, the concept is developed that elderly people live from their homes, rather than in their homes, emphasising the changing importance given to the physical home environment. This will help provide direction for future research into homes for the elderly, in part by critiquing the stereotypes of an aging population.