The Role of Housing Space in Determining Freedom and Flourishing in Older People |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Rose?GilroyEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape University of Newcastle, NE1 7RU New castle, UK |
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Abstract: | This paper takes as its central thesis Martha Nussbaum’s normative proposition that social arrangements should be evaluated
primarily according to the extent of freedom people have to promote or achieve functionings they value. Using this as a lens
the paper explores the housing circumstances of older people in the UK. The paper makes three points. Firstly, given that
people use their homes to structure and manage their lives, the design, quality and standard of their home is therefore a
critical factor in determining their “doings and beings” Sen: 1992, Inequality Re-examined (Clarendon Press, Oxford) p. 40].
Since older people are more likely to spend greater time within the home through lower income, lessening mobility or loss
of companions, this may be of greater significance to them than other age groups. Secondly the paper argues that the design
of “specialist” dwellings for older people where there is a shifting balance between housing and care has played a part in
shaping the thinking about the position and status of older people as well as providing a material context in which older
people live Laws: 1994, Environment and Planning A 26: pp. 1787–1802]. This paper suggests that this context may alter or
deny many aspects of life that may be meaningful to individuals and therefore may inhibit rather than promote human flourishing.
The paper draws mainly on a small qualitative study in which older people spoke of their home and its meaning. Quotations
from this work are given in italics. |
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Keywords: | functioning housing identity older people space standards |
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