PLACES OF CRI-ACTIVE AGING

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4215/rm2022.e21004

Abstract

Brazil, like other countries in the world, has been showing an increasingly long-lasting population growth. Over the last decade, much research has focused on understanding the complexity and impacts of aging. However, it is still not clear whether there is any relationship between the specific ways of life of the elderly and the sense of place they experience. We ask: what places and types of activities can contribute to a better quality of life for the elderly in their home, neighborhood, neighborhood and city? In order to analyze how the elderly live with the places they inhabit in contemporary urbanity, in order to provide new strategies for inclusive urban planning, the research used the method of photographic diaries to understand these dynamics. The study was applied in the Brazilian cities of Pelotas/RS, Belo Horizonte/MG and Brasília/DF, each one with three sections of neighborhoods chosen by different income groups (high, medium and low). Even with their great urban, economic and cultural differences, these cities have in common the transformations in the age pyramid, making the study more heterogeneous and diverse. As a result, it was possible to approach the concept of “becoming-child”, bringing together contemporary French philosophy with the sense of "good place" found in the elderly in the research. These coexistences led us to propose the exercise of composition of a “becoming-child-elderly”, towards a will to power and affirmation of architectural and urban life for a “creative-active” elderly person.

Keywords: Aging, Photographicdiaries, Becoming-Child-Elderly, Territories, Elderlyfriendlycity,Senseofplace.

Author Biographies

  • Eduardo Rocha, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas (RS), Brazil

    PhD in Architecture (PROPAR/UFRGS, 2010) . CNPq Research Productivity Scholarship - Level 2 - Architecture, Demography, Geography, Tourism and Urban and Regional Planning, since 2015. Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and Urbanism (DAUrb), Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAUrb), da Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel); and Researcher in the Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PROGRAU/FAUrb/UFPel), in the Area of Concentration Architecture, Heritage and Urban Systems, Line of Research: Contemporary Urbanism; coordinator of PROGRAU between 2013-2015. Leader of the CNPq Research Group Cidade+Contemporaneidade - UFPel and collaborating researcher in the following CNPq Research Groups: Architecture, Derrida and Approximations (UFRGS); Education and Contemporaneity: experimentations with art and philosophy (IFSul); Behavioral Studies Laboratory (UFPel); Perception and Evaluation of the Built and Natural Environment by the User (UFPel) and; Agrarian, urban and environmental issues and the Observatory of Conflicts in the City (UCPel). Affiliated to the National Association of Research and Graduate Studies in Architecture and Urbanism (ANPARQ). Chief Editor of PIXO - Magazine of Architecture, City and Contemporaneity (https://periodicos.ufpel.edu.br/ojs2/index.php/pixo/index); Organizer of the books: Recycling Sheds and the University (2008), [between] Crossings - essays on the city in contemporary times (2013), Mover, Acolher, Captivar (2016) and Cross-Cult Urban Design (2017), in addition to having published several essays and articles in national and international journals. He is currently developing research, teaching and extension projects at the Urbanism Laboratory (FAUrb/UFPel), where he is coordinator (2017-2022) and also at the Behavioral Studies Laboratory (LEC/UFPel); with emphasis on the projects: Urban Pathography (FAPERGS, Public Notice PqG 2021- in progress), Crossings on the Brazil-Uruguay Border Line (FAPERGS, Public Notice PqG 2017- concluded); Places With Older People Project: Towards Aging-Friendly Communities (ESRC, 2016 - completed); App+SAÚDE: Georeferenced and community system for health management, mobility and accessibility (CNPq, Social Sciences Notice 2014 - concluded); The Para-formal on the Brazil-Uruguay border: controversies and mediations in the public space (CNPq, Edict Universal 2014 - concluded) and; Cultural differences and urban design: experiences of transferability of principles between Pelotas and Oxford (FAPERGS, Postgraduate Internationalization Notice 2014 - concluded). All projects have in common issues related to contemporary ways of life, urban and social cartography, walking, memory and activation of public spaces.

  • Lorena Maia Resende, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas (RS), Brazil.

    PhD student in Architecture at the Graduate Program in Architecture (PROARQ) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Master in Architecture and Urbanism by the Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PROGRAU) of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), in the line of research of Contemporary Urbanism. Architect and Urban Planner graduated from the Federal University of Pelotas (2016). She has experience in the area of Architecture and Urbanism, with an emphasis on Border Cities; Planning and Design. She is currently a collaborator in the development of research, teaching and extension projects with the Urbanism Laboratory (LabUrb) and the research group Sistema de Espaços Livres (SEL-RJ / UFRJ).

  • Adriana Araújo Portella, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas (RS), Brazil

    Adriana Portella has over 20 years of professional research experience, with a successful track record in international project coordination, administrative work and university teaching. She has experience leading projects funded by international agencies (ESRC, UK) and Brazilian federal government bodies (CAPES, CNPQ, FAPERGS). Between May 2016 and August 2019, she was the Brazil Coordinator for the ESRC-funded project `Designing places with older people: Towards age-friendly communities' (www.placeage.org), for a total of £808,289, being a partnership between Brazil and the United Kingdom. For this project, she led a research team of 43 people in Brazil. Adriana is also a researcher, from May 2018 to January 2021, on another ESRC-funded project `Good Aging in Urban Environments: Designing Cities and Communities with Older People' in partnership with the UK and India (£404,827). Since January 2019, she has been Coordinator of the Brazilian project funded by CAPES-PRINT `Nucleus of Studies on Healthy Cities, Aging and Citizenship` at the Federal University of Pelotas, which involves research work with Brazil, the United Kingdom, Argentina and France. Adriana's research interests are interdisciplinary, encompassing urban design, urban planning, architecture and environmental psychology, exploring theoretical concepts of social inequalities, health and well-being, aging in place, sense of place, resilience and historical heritage. She is committed to investigating how to integrate vulnerable groups and older people into the design of urban planning strategies to promote inclusive and better cities for all. Her research is underpinned by a participatory framework, involving communities as co-researchers. She has significant experience in developing and applying innovative methods, including photo diaries and participatory mapping. She is also an expert in quantitative research based on statistical analysis, in particular non-parametric tests. She has worked alongside vulnerable groups, including residents of favelas and gentrification areas in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, Adriana went to the UN in Geneva as a guest to present her work: `The Olympic legacy of Rio 2016: a city for whom?`. Adriana works with knowledge mobilization and public engagement in all her research, translating project findings into public policy, working alongside local community organizations, government and other stakeholders to ensure the maximum impact of the results obtained. She holds a PhD in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University (UK) and a postdoctoral degree in Urban Planning from The Bartlett School of Planning (UK). After living in the UK for five years, she returned to Brazil in 2008 to apply what she learned to the development of urban planning studies and policies in her home country. She currently holds a permanent position as Associate Professor 3 at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel, since 28/08/2008) and was Head of the Department of Architecture and Planning at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism for four years (04/03/2016- 03/29/2020). Her leadership experience also includes the role of Coordinator of the Master's Course in Architecture and Urbanism at UFPel (PROGRAU) for four years (20/01/2009-22/03/2013). She is fluent in English and Portuguese (native speaker), and is also able to understand the Spanish language. In her trajectory, she published four international books: `Visual Pollution: Advertising, Signage and Environmental Quality` by Editora Routledge; `Olhares da Favela/ Insights on favelas`by Editora da UFPel; `Place-Making with Older Adults: Towards Age-Friendly Cities and Communities` by Mixam UK Ltd Publishers; `Ageing in place: narratives and memories in the UK and Brazil.

  • Ryan Woolrych, University of Heriot-Wattem Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    I am a Professor in Ageing and Urban Studies and Director of the Urban Institute. I joined Heriot-Watt University in 2014 as an Associate Professor in Health and Well-being. Prior to this, I worked at the Gerontology Research Centre, Vancouver, Canada exploring issues of social justice, housing and ageing-in-place. 

    I am currently P-I on two ESRC-funded grant exploring Age Friendly Cities and Communities, undertaking collaborative case study research in cities in UK, Brazil and India (total funding £1.2 million as P-I). The research will develop resources and tools for the development of tools and resources to support older adults to age-in-place.

     

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Published

2022-03-15

Issue

Vol. 21 (2022)

Section

Artigos

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