The social environment surrounding the aged has changed, and so have the aged themselves for example, diversification of their sense of values and change in their life styles. It is necessary to study their life space to obtain a good understanding of the quality of life in an aging society.
The author examined the spatial extent of the aged's social relations when they had leisure (also called “relation space”) and the factors which formed those relations. As leisure activity has great importance in their lives and it is said that the elderly population will increase in the suburbs, the uthor selected Akiba-cho (Totsuka-ku, Yokohama City), which is 40km from Tokyo, for studyarea.
The research was done in two steps. In the first survey, the author used a questionnaire to investigate the relation spaces of the aged and their attributes. Secondly, the relationship between the life space at younger ages and the current relation space of the aged was examined individually by interveiws.
The findings are summarized as follows:
1) The relation space of the aged is influenced by the life space of their earlier days, and their familiar area is determined by the social relations formed after they grow old. The relation space of a male newcomer expands beyond his residential space (within 5km of his home) because he tends to keep up and form non-local relevant relations (work-relevant relationships and non-local relevant friendships) under the influence of his work experiences. However, it seemed hard for them to form social relationships at their town level (within 1km). On the other hand, female newcomers and indigenous people had social relationships inside the residentioal space. A woman newcomer formed local relationships through everyday life after she had become old. At the same time, relations with neighbors became close. Indigenous people had close relations during their whole lives, as they had had very close relationships with their neighbors since they were younger.
2) Owing to the characteristics of the suburban areas working place distant from home, the population is fluid-the current social relationships and the relation spaces differed from those of their younger days. Thus they had to adapt to the changes in their relation spaces.
Considering the two factors mentioned above, it can be said that the further their relation space extends, the more abundant their life chances will become. However, it is difficult for them to form and maintain relations owing to the limitations on their bodies, time, families, and budgets. It is easier to maintain the relations within their residential space where they live their everyday lives and can go out freely, but the social relationships that are possible in such a restricted area are limited in both quality and quantity. So the author thinks that it is necessary to focus on the city-level range (within 5 to 15km from their homes), which is beyond their residential space but is familier to them because they go there to shop or for other reasons. The author also thinks it is necessary to regard the city-level as the relation space in which the aged can live a full life. It can be said that the importance of this range will increase as the number of highly educated aged increases and their needs in various dimensions of their lives become diversified and advanced.
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