The Gerontologist, 2024, 64, 1–6

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Theorizing “Place” in Aging in Place: The Need for Territorial

and Relational Perspectives
Sophie Yarker, PhD,* Patty Doran, PhD, and Tine Buffel, PhD
Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

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*Address correspondence to: Sophie Yarker, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Humanities Bridgeford Street, Manchester M13 9PL,
UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Decision Editor: Suzanne Meeks, PhD, FGSA

Abstract
This paper argues for a greater theorization of “place” within aging-in-place research. It extends calls for a relational conceptualization of place
by demonstrating the need for aging-in-place researchers to also pay greater attention to territorial aspects of place. This complementary under-
standing will help establish a new spatial grammar within aging-in-place research, that not only would improve conceptual clarity to aging in
place, but would also support a more critical engagement of aging in place in questions of inequality. The paper demonstrates this through a
discussion of 2 forms of inequality pertinent to older people: the uneven capacity of places to support older people and experiences of social
exclusion in relation to place attachment for older people from marginalized groups.
Keywords: Age-friendly environments, Conceptual development, Inequalities, Place attachment

Aging in place has become an important policy response to as a process. Following this, Rogers et al. (2020) suggest that
population aging primarily focused on supporting people to aging in place should be defined as “one’s journey to maintain
remain in their chosen homes and communities as they age. independence in one’s place of residence as well as to partici-
Despite important advances over recent decades, there has pate in one’s community” (p. 9).
been some criticism that the concept remains largely “ambigu- Issues about home, place, and the environment have
ous and uncritical” (Finlay et al., 2021, p. 224), with a call for emerged as influential themes in the study of aging. They
greater engagement with questions of inequality. In response, have been especially important in the development of the
this paper argues that greater conceptual sharpness might be subdiscipline of environmental gerontology, which emerged
gained through a more thorough theorization of “place” in through the work of Lawton (1982) who examined the rea-
aging in place. Not only would this improve conceptual clari- sons why some physical contexts achieved a better fit with the
ty to aging in place, but it would also support a more critical needs and abilities of older residents than others. Other the-
engagement of the concept in questions of inequality. oretical approaches have focused on the experiential dimen-
Aging in place is often defined in contrast to aging in an sions of aging in place. Rowles (1983), for example, developed
institutional setting or an assisted living environment, empha- the concept of place attachment by drawing upon phenome-
sizing the importance of maintaining a degree of indepen- nological approaches. His research demonstrated how older
dence. For example, Horner and Boldy (2008) define aging people who have resided in the same community for a long
in place as a “positive approach to meeting the needs of the period of time develop a sense of attachment through a life-
older person, supporting them to live independently or with long accumulation of experiences in a place, which can pro-
some assistance for as long as is possible” (p. 356). However, vide a sense of identity. Such issues of identity, familiarity, and
as the field has evolved, scholars have increasingly recognized attachment to place are also central in studies focusing on
the equal importance of sociality or community. This empha- how the domestic environment meets the needs of individuals,
sis on connection and relationships is reflected in the World influencing choices between moving and making alternations
Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of aging in place as to the domestic space (Boldy et al., 2011; Wiles et al., 2012).
“to remain at home in their familiar surroundings and main- The concept of aging in place has also been expanded to
tain the relationships that are important to them” (WHO, consider the role that the wider neighborhood environment
2020, p. 37). Social connectedness is also recognized as a key can play, as well as the social environment of a place (Pani-
dimension in the WHO’s framework of age-friendly cities and Harreman et al., 2021). This can be crucial in understanding
communities (2007), which underpins the drive toward aging why a person may want to remain in their neighborhood or
in the “right” place, highlighting not only the importance of to move. Versey (2018), for example, found that some older
community resources and assets that enable full participation people living in Harlem, NY, valued staying in a neighbor-
in later life, but also the need for understanding aging in place hood where they could remain part of social networks with

Received: August 18, 2022; Editorial Decision Date: December 19, 2022.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
2 The Gerontologist, 2024, Vol. 64, No. 2

neighbors and friends above moving to be closer to family, leads to greater understanding of the complexity of person-
despite changes in the physical environment of their neigh- environment interaction” (Peace et al., 2011, p. 754).
borhood due to processes of urban change. This means that The gaps in our current understanding of aging in place
there are functional aspects of an environment that may sup- identified here suggest a blind spot in terms of how different
port well-being of older people as well as emotional aspects, forms of inequality can affect the experience of aging in place.
such as a sense of belonging and attachment and the impor- The inadequate theorization of place identified by Andrews
tance of memory and biography in place. et al. adds to the difficulty of being able to critically engage
There has also been recognition of the multiplicity of places with questions of different forms of inequality. Therefore,
that are important to aging in place, with studies showing to strengthen the study of aging in place, we “must exam-
that aging in place does not always have to mean remaining ine current theories so that they can speak more fully about
in, or having a sense of attachment to, only one place (Buffel, the thoughts and experiences of … disadvantaged groups”
2015). The latter represents relational theories of aging in (Byrnes, 2011, p. 261). This requires further engagement with
place, which have been used to challenge ideas of place as critical understandings of urban change, social exclusion, and

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bounded and static (Massey, 1991), suggesting, instead, that structural inequalities (Buffel & Phillipson, 2016). This paper
places are made through interactions and are always devel- suggests that theorizing place through both its territorial and
oping and changing over time (Finlay & Finn, 2021). Here, a relational aspects provides one route toward achieving this.
more dynamic understanding of both place and aging in place Whilst supporting a greater engagement with relational
begins to emerge as do questions such as what does it mean to theories of place, this paper develops and extends Andrew et
age in the right place (Golant, 2015) and what happens when al.’s argument to show how territorial approaches to place
places change. can be used to compliment relational ones to strengthen
Despite these advances in the study of aging in place, sev- research on aging in place. Drawing on debates around the
eral limitations can be identified. First, there has been a lack conceptualizing of place from human geography, the follow-
of recognition of the unequal capacity of places to support ing section provides a brief outline of territorial and relational
aging in place (Cribbin et al., 2021). For example, housing approaches to place, drawing attention to the importance
and neighborhoods chosen earlier in people’s lives may no of both connections (emphasized by relational approaches)
longer be appropriate to meet their needs (Golant, 2009) and boundaries and borders (emphasized by territorial
plus places themselves change through processes such as approaches) to how we understand place in aging-in-place
economic decline or regeneration, meaning that some places research. Following this, the paper demonstrates how adopt-
present more hostile and challenging environments for aging ing both a relational and territorial approach in aging in place
in place (Lewis & Buffel, 2020). Related to this, not all can support the development of a more critical perspective
places have equal capacity to support the effective admin- within the literature and allow for different questions around
istering of aging-in-place or age-friendly policies (Yarker & inequality to be brought into focus. This allows for a critical
Buffel, 2022). study of inequalities within aging-in-place research.
Second, there is a lack of recognition of the types of social
exclusion experienced by some members of the older pop-
Toward a Territorial and Relational
ulation. The treatment of “older people” as a homogenous
Conceptualization of Place in Aging in Place
category fails to adequately recognize the diversity of needs
(Wiles et al., 2012). Finlay et al. note that although aging- This paper builds on Andrews et al.’s (2013) call for a rela-
in-place policy routinely acknowledges cultural diversity, this tional conceptualization of place in aging-in-place research.
is rarely put into practice, and even less attention is paid to It argues that an acknowledgment of both the territorial
forms of structural disadvantage. Finlay and Finn (2021), for aspects of place (the role of geographical boundaries and bor-
example, have criticized age-friendly housing developments ders) and the relational aspects of place (the networks and
in U.S. cities for only catering to the “healthy and wealthy,” connections within and between places) would increase the
thereby reproducing housing inequality. Byrnes (2011) sug- conceptual sharpness of aging-in-place research. Thus, to
gests that in the United States, the adoption of aging-in-place avoid a binary understanding of place as either territorial or
policy is based on an understanding of relative privilege and relational, we argue that “place” in aging-in-place research
affluence and therefore may not meet the needs of older peo- should be viewed “not as either/or choices but from a both/
ple experiencing different forms of social exclusion. and perspective” (Pike, 2007, p. 1147), reflecting an under-
Finally, although environmental gerontology has made standing of place as simultaneously localized and global, and
the role of place in shaping the experience of aging explicit, as both fixed and mobile. In other words, privileging neither
Andrews et al. (2013) argue that aging-in-place research is boundaries nor connection (territorial nor relational) but rec-
often done without an adequate theorization of place as a con- ognizing the interdependency between the two. In this sec-
cept in itself. Despite some exceptions (see Milligan & Wiles, tion, we first demonstrate the importance of engaging with
2010; Peace, 2023; Peace et al., 2006), Andrew et al. make relational theories of place in aging research, and then con-
the point that space and place are left largely conceptualized tinue to argue how a territorial approach can further deepen
as bounded, static, and relatively abstract. Addressing this our understanding of aging in place.
need for theoretical depth in the field, the authors advocate Relational theories of place draw on a broader relational
for a greater engagement with relational theories that con- turn in the social sciences that emphasizes the relationships and
ceptualize place through interactions and relations which are connections of places. A neighborhood should not be viewed
always developing and changing over time (Massey, 2005). In as a discrete entity; rather, places have become “unbound”
this view, aging in place is a process which “recognises that or opened up by the forces of globalization (Amin, 2004).
the individual experience of place is layered and that knowl- Therefore, to understand a place, it must be viewed through
edge of personal biography and experience in time and space its connections with others, as being constituted through “a
The Gerontologist, 2024, Vol. 64, No. 2 3

kaleidoscopic web of networks and relational connections circumstances and the dynamics of neighborhood change
which are not fixed or located in place but are constituted over time, such as demographic change, regenerated urban
through various circulating entities” (MacLeod & Jones, spaces, and changes in neighborhood infrastructure.
2007, p. 1179). These “various circulating entities” can be A key argument of this paper is that using both a territorial
understood as the forces of globalization referred to by Amin, and relational approach in aging in place allows for questions
that is, the circulation of “goods, technologies, knowledge, of different forms of inequality to come into focus. This will
people, finance, and information” (Massey et al., 2003, p. 25). be demonstrated by this paper in two main ways: (1) the abil-
In providing an example of how this conceptualization of ity to theorize the unequal capacity of places to support aging
place would be applied to aging-in-place research, Andrews et in place and (2) the potential for understanding how different
al. (2013) consider how it might be applied to the study of age- groups of older people experience social exclusion from cer-
friendly cities. They demonstrate how a relational perspective tain environments.
allows researchers to focus on how different places across
the world are connected through the mobility of age-friendly The Unequal Capacity to Support Aging in Place

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policy, following the inauguration by the WHO (in 2010) of Viewing aging in place through a territorial and relational
the Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities. lens can help reveal the unequal capacity of neighborhoods
The result has been interventions in areas such as housing in to support aging in place. Scholars of urban aging, in partic-
later life, transportation, outdoor spaces, and social participa- ular, have drawn attention to the uneven capacity of different
tion (Buffel & Phillipson, 2019). The WHO framework has neighborhoods to support aging in place for different groups
been adopted by over 1,300 cities and communities and has (Lewis & Buffel, 2020). This can be for several reasons; for
become embedded in local places through “processes of local example, urban processes such as the privatization of pub-
experimentation and implementation” (Andrews et al., 2013, lic space or gentrification can result in older people living on
p. 1360). Conceptualizing place relationally then allows low incomes being physically or symbolically excluded from
aging-in-place researchers a greater insight into the mobility spaces in their neighborhoods as they are redesigned to meet
of age-friendly policies, by illuminating how policies devel- the needs of more affluent social groups. This can, therefore,
oped by one institution, in this instance, by the WHO, have leave some places unable to support the social connections
different expressions depending upon the particular national of their existing aging populations. For example, Buffel and
contexts they are embedded within. Phillipson (2019), in their study of aging in place in gentrified
This paper develops the argument that to advance the con- neighborhoods, discuss how some long-term older residents
ceptualization of place in aging-in-place research, we also avoided some spaces and appropriated others differently
need to engage with territorial theories. Indeed, we would because of feeling excluded from some of the new amenities
caution against overstating the relational aspects of place at that had opened as a result of gentrification.
the expense of its territorial aspects (see also MacLeod & Equally, austerity measures can lead to the closure of vital
Jones, 2007; Morgan, 2007; Pike, 2007) because a relational spaces of social infrastructure, such as libraries or commu-
conceptualization of place, which due to its emphasis on nity centers, and a hollowing out of the social and physical
mobility and flow can sometimes appear as rootless and with- environment needed to support aging in place (Buffel &
out boundaries, is not always the most appropriate one to Phillipson, 2019; Finlay et al., 2021; Yarker, 2022). Libraries,
enhance our understanding of the meaning of places as they community centers, green and public spaces, voluntary orga-
are lived and experienced. For example, questions about how nizations, local post offices, and shops are a vital part of
older people develop territorial identity, a sense of home, or the social infrastructure of neighborhoods, and often act as
attachment to place require a territorial perspective, including places of refuge for vulnerable populations such as homeless
boundaries—real or imagined—around particular localities people, people with mental health issues, recent immigrants,
(Yarker, 2018). and some younger and older people. Research in the United
Therefore, aging-in-place research needs to recognize the Kingdom has shown that although the closure of social infra-
continued importance of territory to conceptualizing place as structure and third spaces negatively affect the well-being and
well as its relational aspects. In doing so, this paper builds quality of life of older residents, those with minoritized and
on established traditions within social gerontology that take marginalized identities, such as older people on low incomes,
a similarly balanced approach toward understanding place, ethnic minority older people, those with disabilities, long-
yet which may not explicitly engage with the same spatial term illnesses, and cognitive impairments, are particularly
grammar. Life-course perspective, as developed by Glen Elder affected (Buffel et al., 2021; Yarker, 2022).
(1998), suggests that a holistic and dynamic understanding The implications of this are that some groups of older peo-
of person–environment relationships can only be achieved ple living in underresourced neighborhoods are left feeling
by examining the historical, geographical, and socioeco- trapped in place (Buffel et al., 2021) or “feeling out of place”
nomic contexts influencing people’s life course (Chaudhury (Philips et al., 2011). Such experiences can be amplified for
& Oswald, 2019). The life-course perspective can be visu- older people with further marginalized identities. For exam-
alized as a dynamic social ecological model within which ple, Chatters et al. (2020) describe the double jeopardy of
micro (individual), meso (institutional), and macro (socie- agism and racism faced by Black adults living in low-income
tal) influences are seen to affect development over time. This neighborhoods in the United States and the detrimental health
dynamic understanding of different processes, contexts, and impacts of this, whereas older people living with disabilities
geographical scales has been drawn upon by researchers in and long-term illnesses are often cut off from vital support
social gerontology to show how factors associated with place services (AGE Platform Europe, 2020).
can influence life outcomes and behaviors. For example, in The drive to understand ways to enhance the capacity of
their longitudinal analysis, Lewis and Buffel (2020) identified neighborhoods to support aging in place has led gerontolo-
how aging in place is affected by both changing life-course gists to study a variety of different forms of community. For
4 The Gerontologist, 2024, Vol. 64, No. 2

example, the Village model, developed most extensively in the However, it is important not to overstate mobility and flow
United States, involves older residents working together to in place attachment at the expense of roots and rootedness.
form membership-based groups to address a variety of age- Territorial aspects of place are important here too especially
related needs. Villages in this context are defined as “self- in appreciating how boundaries and borders are used by older
governing grassroots, community-based organizations people to make sense of place. One of the most influential
developed with the sole purpose of enabling people to remain uses of the concept of place attachment within aging-in-
in their own homes as they age” (Graham et al., 2014). place research comes from Rowles’ (1980) identification of
Therefore, the Village model supports aging in place through physical, social, and autobiographical “insideness” (drawing
the pooling of resources in a geographical location; however, on Relph, 1976) used to describe feelings of attachment and
it has been noted that participation in the Village model is involvement in place across the life course. To feel a sense
restricted for older adults with more health needs or fewer of “insideness” depends upon an awareness of boundaries
financial resources (Lehning et al., 2017), and therefore runs (real or imagined) between what is considered “inside” or
the risk of further exacerbating the unequal capacity of place. otherwise.

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Understanding the unequal capacity of neighborhoods to Recent studies of home within social gerontology have
support aging in place requires an understanding of locality challenged static notions of the concept and instead drawn
and how localities change, therefore recognizing that a place’s attention to “the interrelationship between the dwelling and
capacity to support aging in place can change also (Lewis & its surrounding material, social and relational environment”
Buffel, 2020). Thus, to fully grasp the capacity of neighbor- (Webber et al., 2022, p. 2). Webber et al. (2022) argue that
hoods and different forms of community initiatives to support feelings of home in later life are not fixed, but subject to being
aging in place, we require an understanding of both territorial made and unmade over time due to changes in the local envi-
and relational aspects of place, as well as the interdependen- ronment and the weakening (or disappearance) of social con-
cies between these two. This is because the barriers to aging nections. This dynamic relationship between home and how it
in place in a particular locality (or territory), such as the lack connects (or otherwise) to the wider neighborhood elegantly
of age-friendly facilities (benches, green spaces, opportunities demonstrates the need for understanding the role of both con-
for civic and social participation), can only be understood in nections and boundaries in place.
relation to broader structural forces such as those associated The experience of foreign-born migrants also helps illumi-
with urban development, austerity, and privatization. The nate the role of both boundaries and connections in aging in
argument for a territorial perspective here focuses on its abil- place. There is a limited but growing body of research into
ity to illuminate the impact of processes of social change as the experience of aging in place for migrants, and specifically
experienced by those aging in place. Put another way, it pro- how people aging in places other than their country of origin
vides opportunities to reveal the local expression of macro- negotiate attachments to place (Ryan et al., 2020). Ryan et
social forces and their impact on the capacity of places to al. (2020) describe the need to understand the attachment to
support older people in their everyday activities as they are place for older migrants as a continual process of construct-
lived out and experienced in the locality. This is essential to ing place identities that require “effort negotiation and adap-
driving forward a research agenda on how different forms of tation over time” (p. 2). This means an experience of aging in
community can support aging in place. place which is experienced at multiple scales and involves a
process of embedding (and disembedding) in place (Ryan et
Experiences of Exclusion From Aging in Place al., 2020). This process of embedding, Ryan et al. argue, is
When viewed through both a relational and territorial lens, “strongly associated with relationality and networks of fam-
different forms of social exclusion from aging in place are ily and friends” (p. 6) but also cannot be looked at only in
brought into focus, particularly for marginalized groups. relation to one place, “their lives are shaped by relationships,
The ability to age in place can be compromised by experi- people and places both in the country where they are grow-
ences of social exclusion and a critical approach to aging- ing older, and elsewhere” (Zontini, 2015, p. 328). This also
in-place research must seek to understand such experiences. demonstrates the need for an understanding of transnational
The concept of place attachment has provided an important networks of support in aging-in-place research.
way of studying social exclusion in gerontology. This sec- Here, a relational and territorial theorization of place
tion of the paper will demonstrate how a territorial and allows us to understand older people’s support networks as
relational lens to aging in place can help illuminate differ- “mobile, spawning communities of relational connectivity
ent forms of place attachment for older people, and how that transcend territorial boundaries” (Morgan, 2007, p. 33),
this can be used to understand experiences of exclusion for yet which remain deeply local in character as they are devel-
different groups. oped, negotiated, and experienced in local neighborhoods.
Place attachment is understood as the affective, cognitive, Similar to discussions of how older people make and unmake
and behavioral ties that individuals develop with their envi- connections between the home and the wider neighborhood
ronment (Woolrych et al., 2022). Relational theories of place (see Webber et al., 2022), the negotiations of attachments to
have been instructive in ensuring place attachments are not multiple places in later life demonstrated by migrants illus-
thought of as static, but as a negotiated and constructed state trated the role both boundaries and connections play within
through ongoing interactions between the individual and their aging-in-place research.
environment. Therefore, attachment to place is shaped by This section has demonstrated the need to include territo-
continually reintegrating with places and renegotiating mean- rial perspectives of place alongside relational ones in aging-
ings and identity (Wiles et al., 2012). This relational view of in-place research, and how such conceptualizations have
place attachment is useful as it recognizes aging in place as the potential to bring new insights into the different types
being contingent on multiple places and relationships, all of of inequality associated with aging in place. Viewing place
which are dynamic and interconnected. attachment and understandings of home through a territorial
The Gerontologist, 2024, Vol. 64, No. 2 5

and relational lens draws attention to the complex forms of ideologies in cities. It might also allow age-friendly agendas
both “insideness” and exclusion from place experienced by to engage more with broader social and political movements
older people. This is especially important for recognizing such as those around racial, environmental, and intergenera-
experiences of aging in place for marginalized groups. The tional justice. The impact on older people themselves would
struggles older migrants may have in forming attachments to ultimately be to help center the less-often-heard voices within
places that are not able to meet their practical, social, or cul- aging populations by drawing attention to the different forms
tural needs, can lead to people feeling “out of place” (Cuba of exclusion and inequality experienced in later life. In short,
& Hummon, 1993) and at risk of social exclusion. Similarly, a critical conceptualization of place that recognizes how
Lewis and Buffel (2020) argue the ability for some older peo- inequalities shape the places where older people live, will bet-
ple living in economically marginalized or rapidly gentrifying ter position aging-in-place researchers to grasp the inequali-
neighborhoods may have their attachments undermined. This ties facing aging populations.
can lead to social exclusion and other forms of inequality.

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Funding
Conclusion This work was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Grant (Ref
This paper has suggested that a deeper conceptualization of RL 2019 001) and by the Economic and Social Research
place in aging-in-place research is needed to allow research- Council (ESRC) under the Future Research Leaders scheme
ers to further their critical engagement with how different (Grant no.: ES/N002180/1).
forms of inequality affect aging populations. To do this, the
paper has presented a spatial grammar that acknowledges the
conceptual vantage points of both relational and territorial Conflict of Interest
aspects of place. Such a complementary understanding of None declared.
place, we argue, provides the tools to understand how the
places in which we age are both shaped by their position
within wider networks of power relations, but also deeply Data Availability
embedded in the particularity of local context and territorial This study does not report data and therefore the preregis-
politics. tration and data availability requirements are not applica-
A relational and territorial conceptualization of place is ble.
particularly important for research aimed at understanding
how inequalities shape the experience of aging in place. This
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