Geographies of Transport and Ageing

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

   PDF

2. Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Geographical Perspectives on Transport and Ageing

      • Charles Musselwhite, Angela Curl

      Pages 3-24

   3. Driving Segregation: Age, Gender and Emerging Inequalities

      • Jon Minton, Julie Clark

      Pages 25-50

   4. Mobility and Ageing: A Review of Interactions Between Transport and Technology from the Perspective of Older People

      • Kate Pangbourne

      Pages 51-71

3. Rural

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 73-73

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   2. Mobility, Transport and Older People’s Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review and Prospect

      • Gina Porter, Amleset Tewodros, Mark Gorman

      Pages 75-100

   3. A Window to the Outside World. Digital Technology to Stimulate Imaginative Mobility for Housebound Older Adults in Rural Areas

      • Gillian Dowds, Margaret Currie, Lorna Philip, Judith Masthoff

      Pages 101-130

4. Urban

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 131-131

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   2. Cycling for Transport Among Older Adults: Health Benefits, Prevalence, Determinants, Injuries and the Potential of E-bikes

      • Jelle Van Cauwenberg, Bas de Geus, Benedicte Deforche

      Pages 133-151

   3. Out-of-Home Mobility of Senior Citizens in Kochi, India

      • Talat Munshi, Midhun Sankar, Dhruvi Kothari

      Pages 153-170

   4. Walking with Older Adults as a Geographical Method

      • Angela Curl, Sara Tilley, Jelle Van Cauwenberg

      Pages 171-195

5. Futures

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197

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   2. Exploring How Older People Might Experience Future Transport Systems

      • Helen Fitt

      Pages 199-225

   3. Future Ageing Populations and Policy

      • Judith Phillips, Shauna McGee

      Pages 227-250

6. Back Matter

   Pages 251-254

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This book presents a unique geographical perspective on issues of transport and mobility for ageing populations. Society is ageing across the globe. As well as living longer, older people are fitter, healthier and more active than previous generations were. There is both a desire and a need to be mobile in later life and mobility is clearly linked to older people’s health and wellbeing. Yet mobility can be hard for older people and we don’t always design our neighbourhoods, towns, cities and villages in an age friendly way.


With case studies from across the globe, authors take a geographical lens to the important topic of transport and mobility in later life. Chapters examine how the relationships between mobility, modes of transport, place and technologies affect an aging population.


This collection will be of interest to scholars and students in human geography, in particular those with interests in transport geography, mobilities, geographies of health and wellbeing, urban geographies and geographical gerontology. It will also appeal to practitioners and policy makers in urban design and planning, transport planning and engineering and public health who have interests in age-friendly cities and policy.

• Gerontology
• Cultural Geography
• Transport Geography
• Transport Studies
• Mobilities
• Wellbeing
• Ageing in place
• Aging
• Urban Planning
• Regional Studies
• Health Geography
• urban geography and urbanism

“This is a timely and important book that challenges preconceptions about the transport needs and desires of our ageing society. It offers insights into the diversity of aspirations we have as we age and the daily reality in getting out and about experienced by older people in different circumstances. We need better understandings of these things to plan for a future life of quality for all ages and places.” (Catharine Ward Thompson, OPENspace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, UK)

“Recent years have rightly seen a growth in scholarship around what “ageing well” can mean in 21st Century societies. There is high recognition across the disciplines engaged with ageing research of the importance of connectedness and mobility, whether by traditional means, augmented by access to “virtual mobility” information-technology solutions, or assisted with new transport system technologies. Giventhe significance of mobility and transport to active, successful ageing, Geographies of Transport and Ageing represents an important, arguably overdue, contribution, balancing insightful analysis of challenges faced today, such as how far policy should sustain older citizens’ driving, or encourage them to cycle, with informed discussion about potentials for tomorrow. As would be expected from a geographical perspective, the volume also considers the particular contexts of rural and urban areas, and the global north and south.” (Professor Graham Parkhurst, Centre for Transport and Society, University of the West of England, UK)

• Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

  Angela Curl

• Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom

  Charles Musselwhite

Angela Curl is a Lecturer in Health Geography at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Her research interests are focused around understanding people’s perceptions and experiences of transport and mobility and how these intersect with the built environment, with a particular focus on older people’s mobilities as a key interface between research in transport and health.  She has previously worked in Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow, at the OPENspace research centre at the University of Edinburgh and as a transport planning practitioner.


Charles Musselwhite is Associate Professor in Gerontology, Centre for Innovative Ageing (CIA), Swansea University, UK and heads-up the group’s Environments and Ageing research strand. His research examines mobility and ageing, specifically studying travel behavior, road user safety and relationships with health and wellbeing. Prior to joining Swansea, he worked at the Centre for Transport Studies, University West of England.

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