Abstract
The rapidly growing number of senior citizens in Indian cities, changing demographic structure and deteriorating transport infrastructure has raised concerned about mobility and independence of seniors. This article explores these issues, using semi-structured interviews in the city of Kochi, Kerala. The study finds that the provision of mobility infrastructure and the situation of seniors have restricted their mobility to the extent that many seniors prefer not to travel, pushing seniors towards living a dependent life. However, the changing social structure will force them to live an independent life, which will put a lot of pressure on their well-being. It is imperative that there is systemic support, and mobility options are provided such that seniors are able to move freely.
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Notes
- 1.
Seniors are citizens above 60Â years of age, and they have also been referred to as seniors or aged in other literature.
- 2.
Kerala also has a higher, that is, 12% of its population who are senior citizens compared to the national share of 8%.
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Munshi, T., Sankar, M., Kothari, D. (2018). Out-of-Home Mobility of Senior Citizens in Kochi, India. In: Curl, A., Musselwhite, C. (eds) Geographies of Transport and Ageing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76360-6_7
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