A Set of Variables for the Elderly Accessibility in Urban Areas

  • Carmela Gargiulo University of Naples Federico II
  • Floriana Zucaro University of Naples Federico II
  • Federica Gaglione University of Naples Federico II
Keywords: elderly, built environment, urban accessibility

Abstract

Until a few years ago, the elderly were considered as fragile, lonely, marginalized citizens, unable to live independently and had generally been "invisible" in studies and planning instruments that involved the governance of urban transformations. In recent years, a major focus of attention has been paid to the matter in urban development policies too (OECD, 2015), which should be oriented towards the construction of an urban model aimed at reducing the social exclusion of the elderly. For this purpose, this contribution describes a first research segment developed by the University of Naples operating unit concerning the definition of a set of variables to measure accessibility of the elderly segment of the population to the neighbourhood scale. In particular, the paper pursues a twofold objective: cognitive and methodological. Firstly, to outline the cognitive framework on the issue of urban accessibility for the elderly through a review of the main studies on this topic, the plans of sustainable urban mobility, the service plans and the governance tools for urban transformation, as well as of the most recent European best practices. The cognitive framework shall allow identifying the limits to be overcome in the reorganisation of the city. Secondly, this paper is intended to identify the set of significant variables taken from the cognitive framework and quantify its specific weight. The paper also proposes a first parameterization of the variables in the GIS environment, which refer to quantitative geo-localized data rather than collected from sample surveys, such as interviews, widely used in literature.

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Author Biographies

Carmela Gargiulo, University of Naples Federico II
Full professor of Urban Planning Techniques at the University of Naples Federico II. Since 1987 she has been involved in studies on the management of urban and territorial transformations. Since 2004, she has been Member of the Researcher Doctorate in Hydraulic, Transport and Territorial Systems Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II”. She is Member of the Committee of the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Her research interests focus on the processes of urban requalification, on relationships between urban transformations and mobility, and on the estate exploitation produced by urban transformations. On these subjects she has co-ordinated research teams within National Project such as Progetto Finalizzato Edilizia - Sottoprogetto “Processi e procedure” (Targeted Project on Building – Subproject “Processes and procedures), from 1992 to 1994; Progetto Strategico Aree Metropolitane e Ambiente, (Strategic Project Metropolitan Areas and Environment) from 1994 to 1995; PRIN project on the “Impacts of mobility policies on urban transformability, environment and property market” from 2011 to 2013. Scientific Responsible of the Project Smart Energy Master for the energy management of territory financed by PON 04A2_00120 R&C Axis II, from 2012 to 2015. She is author of more than 130 publications.
Floriana Zucaro, University of Naples Federico II

PhD at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), University of Naples Federico II

Federica Gaglione, University of Naples Federico II
PhD student at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), University of Naples Federico II

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Published
2018-10-16
How to Cite
GargiuloC., ZucaroF., & GaglioneF. (2018). A Set of Variables for the Elderly Accessibility in Urban Areas. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 53-66. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/5738
Section
Special Issue 2018. SIET Elderly mobility