Human Geography and Environmental Gerontology: Why Are Studies on Aging and the Aged Stagnant in Anglophone Geography?

Abstract

In the 1960s, Anglophone human geographers appealed for the geography of aging and the aged to be established as a distinct, meaningful field. Subsequently, an increasing number of geographers became involved in this field and research in this area accumulated. After the 1980s, however, Anglophone human geographers in this field shifted their academic activities from geography to social gerontology. This paper reviews research on human geography and social gerontology, particularly environmental gerontology, and examines the reasons for the shift from geography to social gerontology. Three main reasons were extracted from this study.

First, theories and discussions from this field have been deployed mainly in social gerontology. At the outset, eminent geographers such as Graham Rowles and Sheila Peace extracted their research questions from discussions on social gerontology. There was an increase in the number of social gerontologists with a geographic focus. They developed theories and discussions independent of Anglophone human geography and have made important, sophisticated contributions to the field.

Second, social gerontology has provided a more fascinating research environment for geographers. This discipline receives considerably more research funding and includes academic posts. Most geographers in this field now receive academic posts in gerontology or related areas. Some geographers are highly reputed in social gerontology for their qualitative, nuanced research from transactional viewpoints, which were originally lacking in this field.

Third, academic geographers tended to evaluate applied research less highly than the “pure” type. Geographers interested in the field of aging and the aged have emphasized extracting implications from their research findings and contributing to the well-being of the elderly. Such intentions have remained unchanged in recent work, such as that edited by Rowles and Bernard (2013) and performed by Golant (2015).

This division must be reconciled in terms of creating age-friendly communities, as they consist of the elderly as well as other demographic groups. We must examine why geographers in this field and social gerontologists with a geographic focus are reluctant to publish their research in geography journals and why geographers do not consider the research, especially applied research, of social gerontologists seriously.