The Kindness of Strangers: Exploring Interdependencies and Shared Mobilities of Elderly People in Rural Japan

For over forty years, most residents in rural areas of Japan have relied on private vehicles to meet their mobility needs. Today, however, the rapid ageing of the population, coupled with low birth rates and migration of young people to urban areas, is posing a variety of new transport challenges. M...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
VerfasserInnen: Yamamoto, Fuyo (Jenny) (VerfasserIn) ; Zhang, Junyi 1966- (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Cogitatio Press 2017
In: Social Inclusion
Jahr: 2017, Band: 5, Heft: 4, Seiten: 183-195
weitere Schlagwörter:B driving
B Japan
B Ageing
B Older people
B Mobility
B cultural attitudes
B Social exclusion
B rural transportation
B Transport
B Elderly
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:For over forty years, most residents in rural areas of Japan have relied on private vehicles to meet their mobility needs. Today, however, the rapid ageing of the population, coupled with low birth rates and migration of young people to urban areas, is posing a variety of new transport challenges. Most notably, the proportion of drivers to non-drivers is getting smaller. This means that non-drivers who relied on family and neighbours for trips in the past, as well as elderly residents who give up their licenses, have fewer people to drive them. Current policy debates tend to focus on technological "solutions", and underestimate the complex social, cultural and inter-personal relationships which underlie transport dependencies in these environments. Using a qualitative semi-structured survey, the current study explores the current mobilities of older people living in a small rural district in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The resulting analysis reveals how cultural attitudes and social norms affect the ways in which older people manage their mobilities.
ISSN:2183-2803
Enthält:Enthalten in: Social Inclusion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.17645/si.v5i4.1125