Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T21:31:28.022Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Change in Elderly Residential Segregation in Canadian Metropolitan Areas, 1981–91

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Geoffrey C. Smith
Geoffrey C. Smith
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Using census data, this study investigates change in the residential segregation of persons age 65 years and over from younger persons in Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs) between 1981 and 1991. In each CMA, age-segregation is first evaluated in terms of inner city-suburban population distributions, and then according to the degree of segregation across census tracts expressed by the Index of Dissimilarity. Although the CMAs typically had moderate segregation levels in both 1981 and 1991, there were consistent trends toward (i) increasing proportions of the elderly living in suburban areas, and (ii) declining degrees of age-segregation across census tracts. It is proposed that these trends are partly attributable to the aging in place of suburban residents. Correlation and regression analyses indicate that in 1991 lower degrees of segregation were associated with CMAs which had relatively high percentages of both older dwellings and elderly population. The policy implications of the results are discussed.

Résumé

À partir de données de recensement, cette étude examine les variations de ségrégation résidentielle chez les personnes de 65 ans et plus par rapport aux jeunes canadiens dans les régions métropolitaines de recensement (RMR) au Canada entre 1981 et 1991. Dans chaque RMR, on évalue d'abord la ségrégation selon l'âge en fonction de la répartition de la population entre les villes et les banlieues et ensuite, on examine le degré de ségrégation entre les secteurs de recensement défini par l'indice de dissimilitude. Bien que les RMR aient présenté des degrés moyens de ségrégation en 1981 comme en 1991, on a relevé des tendances constantes vers des proportions croissantes d'aînés vivant en banlieues et un degré décroissant de ségrégation selon l'âge les différents secteurs de recensement. On attribue en partie ces tendances au vieillissement des résidents de banlieues. Les analyses de corrélation et de régression indiquent qu'en 1991, de faibles indices de ségrégation étaient associés aux RMR où on retrouvait à la fois une population plus âgée et des habitations plus vieilles. Les incidences politiques des résultats de cette analyse sont discutées.

Keywords

ElderlyMetropolitan AreasSegregationSuburbanizationAging in Place.Aîné(e)srégions métropolitainességrégationbanlieusardisationvieillissement chez soi.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , Printemps/Spring 1998 , pp. 59 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson Ramsay, H.M. (1995). Relative concentration and locational characteristics of senior citizen apartment units in Winnipeg, 1981–1993. M.A. Dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.Google Scholar
Bourne, L.S. (1991). Addressing the Canadian city: Contemporary perspectives, trends, and issues. In Bunting, T. & Filion, P. (Eds.), Canadian cities in transition (pp. 25–44). Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Broadway, M.J. (1995). The Canadian inner city 1971–1991: Regeneration and decline. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 4, 1–19.Google Scholar
Brown, P., & Burke, D. (1979). The Canadian inner city 1971–1976: A statistical handbook. Ottawa: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.Google Scholar
Clark, M. (1971). Patterns of aging among the elderly poor of the inner city. The Gerontologist, 11, 58–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cortese, C.F., Falk, R.F., & Cohen, J. (1976). Further consideration on the methodological analysis of segregation indices. American Sociological Review, 41, 630–637.Google Scholar
Cowgill, D.O. (1974). Aging and modernization: A revision of the theory. In Gubrium, J. (Ed.), Late life: Communities and environmental policy (pp. 123–146). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Cowgill, D.O. (1978). Residential segregation by age in American metropolitan areas. Journal of Gerontology, 33, 446–453.Google Scholar
Everitt, J.C., & Gfellner, B.M. (1995). Elderly persons' housing in Brandon Manitoba: Status, challenges, and prospects. A Report prepared for the Health Policy Division, Policy and Consultation Branch, Health Canada. Faculty of Science, Brandon University, Brandon, MB.Google Scholar
Fischer, D. (1977). Growing old in America. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, K.M., & Logan, J.R. (1985). The aging of the suburbs, 1960–1980. American Sociological Review, 50, 106–117.Google Scholar
Golant, S.M. (1972). The residential location and spatial behavior of the elderly. Research Paper No. 143, Department of Geography, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Golant, S.M. (1980). Locational-environmental perspectives on old-age segregated residential areas in the U.S. In Herbert, D.T. & Johnston, R.J. (Eds.), Geography and the urban environment, progress and research in applications, 3 (pp. 257–291). London: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Golant, S.M. (1987). Residential moves by elderly persons to U.S. central cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 534–539.Google Scholar
Golant, S.M. (1990). The metropolitanization and suburbanization of the U.S. elderly population: 1970–88. The Gerontologist, 30, 80–85.Google Scholar
Goldberg, M., & Mercer, J. (1986). The myth of the North American city. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Gonyea, J.D., Hudson, R.B., & Seltzer, G.B. (1990). Housing preferences of vulnerable elders in suburbia. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 7, 79–95.Google Scholar
Hiltner, J., & Smith, B.W. (1974). Intraurban residential location of the elderly. Journal of Geography, 73, 23–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, J.M., & De Jong, G.F. (1977). Aged in cities: residential segregation in 10 U.S.A. central cities. Journal of Gerontology, 32, 97–102.Google Scholar
La Gory, M., Ward, R., & Juravich, T. (1980). The age segregation process: Explanation for American cities. Urban Affairs Quarterly, 16, 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Gory, M., Ward, R., & Sherman, S. (1985). The ecology of aging: Neighborhood satisfaction in an older population. The Sociological Quarterly, 26, 405–418.Google Scholar
Lawton, M.P. (1980). Environment and Aging. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Ley, D. (1988). Social upgrading in six Canadian inner cities. The Canadian Geographer, 32, 31–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ley, D.F., & Bourne, L.S. (1993). The social context and diversity of urban Canada. In Bourne, L.S. & Ley, D.F. (Eds.), The changing geography of Canadian cities (pp. 3–30). Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Litwak, E., & Longino, C.F. (1987). The migratory patterns of the elderly: A developmental perspective. The Gerontologist, 27, 266–272.Google Scholar
Logan, J.R. (1984). The graying of the suburbs. Aging, 10, 4–8.Google Scholar
Massey, D.S. (1980). Eesidential segregation of a non-labor force population: The needy elderly and disabled. Economic Geography, 50, 190–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. (1979). Locational consequences of housing policies for the low-income elderly: A case study. In Golant, S.M. (Ed.), Location and environment of elderly population (pp. 111–126). Washington, DC: Winston.Google Scholar
Mercer, J. (1991). The Canadian city in continental context: Global and continental perspectives on Canadian urban development. In Bunting, T. & Filion, D. (Eds.), Canadian cities in transition (pp. 45–68). Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moore, E.G., & Rosenberg, M.W. with McGuinness, D. (1997). Growing old in Canada: Demographic and geographic perspectives. Catalogue No. 96–321-MPE No. 1, Statistics Canada, Toronto, ON: Nelson.Google Scholar
Park, R., Burgess, E.W., & McKenzie, R.D. (1925). The City. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, M.W., – Moore, E.G. (1990). The elderly, economic dependency, and local government revenues and expenditures. Environment and Planning C, 8, 149–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenberg, M.W., Moore, E.G., & Ball, S.B. (1989). Components of change in the spatial distribution of the elderly population in Ontario, 1976–1986. The Canadian Geographer, 33, 218–229.Google Scholar
Rosow, I. (1967). Social integration of the aged. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Smith, B.W., & Hiltner, J. (1975). Intraurban location of the elderly. Journal of Gerontology, 30, 473–478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Canada (1992). 1991 Census Handbook. Catalogue No. 92–305E, Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Taeuber, K.E., & Taeuber, A.F. (1965). Negroes in cities. Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Teaff, J., Lawton, M.P., Nahemow, L., & Carlson, D. (1978). Impact of age integration on the well-being of elderly tenants in public housing. Journal of Gerontology, 33, 126–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tierney, J.P. (1987). A comparative examination of the residential segregation of persons 65 to 74 and persons 75 and above in 18 United States metropolitan areas for 1970 and 1980. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 101–106.Google Scholar