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(Im)mobile ageing: risks of exclusion in later life in liminal urban peripheries
- Prajwal Nagesh, Ajay Bailey, Sobin George, Martin Hyde, Lekha Subaiya
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- Journal:
- Ageing & Society , First View
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 12 January 2023, pp. 1-24
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- Article
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Despite the recent policy impetus for age-friendly cities, there is still scope for more geographical insights into ageing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Cities in LMICs, such as Bengaluru (India), are witnessing an increase in the size of the older population in their peripheral urban regions, but there is relatively little understanding of the risks of exclusion in later age in these liminal zones. This study, set in a peripheral ward of Bengaluru, focuses on the experiences of exclusion/inclusion of socio-economically marginalised older adults and their access to work, health care and leisure. The research uses a multidimensional old-age exclusion framework to highlight how the domains of neighbourhood, material resources, mobility infrastructure and social relations influence the risks for social exclusion. We use a qualitative approach by combining behavioural mapping and in-depth interviews. Our findings highlight some ways in which institutionalised exclusion from civic infrastructure accentuates the precariousness of ageing. The rigidity of traditional hierarchies in peri-urban regions has meant that older adults who were poor, women and belonged to marginalised castes experience constrained mobilities to access labour markets, health care and social life, compounding their place-based exclusion. Despite social networks and solidarities, older adults on the periphery faced individualisation of risks while trying to access the basic amenities, thereby falling between the gap of the urban–rural milieu and governance. Age-friendly cities need to accommodate such hybrid transitionary urban processes, in the absence of which, active ageing in these rising peripheries can be impeded.
Seven - Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India
- Edited by Brian Doucet, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Rianne van Melik, Pierre Filion, University of Waterloo, Ontario
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- Book:
- Volume 1: Community and Society
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 13 April 2023
- Print publication:
- 22 July 2021, pp 73-82
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Summary
Introduction
The hypermobile cities of India stood still with the onset of COVID-19-induced lockdowns. Public transport services were the first to be suspended, and older adults in particular were instructed not to leave their homes (Press Information Bureau (PIB), 2020). Even with the easing of lockdown and the resumption of limited public transport, older adults were ‘restricted’ from using services as per the pandemic-related advisories issued by the state. Mobility, which is central to active aging, health status, and well-being (World Health Organization (WHO), 2007) of older adults, was affected by this exclusion in the public transport system. The short-and medium-term implications of such lockdown protocols towards the (im)mobility of older adults requires attention. Given the Indian urban transport scenario, the dependence of older adults (particularly those from low-income groups) on public transport and the inadequate public transport infrastructure is relevant to contextualize the pandemic advisories.
This chapter uses the case of Bengaluru city in southern India to highlight how transport protocols issued during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted older adults’ (im)mobility. Even before the lockdown was rolled out on March 24, 2020, Bengaluru's public transport system had been struggling to cater to passenger demand. With physical distancing norms in place, which reduced ridership and trip number, it has become more difficult for passengers in general, and older adult passengers in particular, to access public transport. In Bengaluru, a large proportion of older adults are mobile, work in the informal sector, and earn a low income. They cannot afford private transportation and are therefore dependent on public transport (Baindur and Rao, 2016). The exclusion of this group from the public transport system will have implications for their access to work, social life, and essentials such as banking, health care, and groceries.
In this chapter, we take an intersectional perspective, where we examine how events such as the COVID-19 pandemic further accentuated the already disadvantageous position of older adults in the absence of age-friendly interventions. The chapter reviews the literature, government circulars, and social media communication to understand the state's major transport-related decisions. We use data from our online survey (conducted between June 9 and June 30, 2020), in which we focused on the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on older adults’ mobility in urban India.