Aging at home in the diversity of urban and rural forms in Québec, Canada : An exploration of territorial issues as seen by their inhabitants

Résumé 0

As part of the “Age-Friendly Cities” (AFC) initiative, Québécois municipalities are called on to develop thinking with a common assessment protocol aimed at the implementation of facilities and services for more inclusive and active ageing. In this context, while mobility depends to a great extent on individual characteristics, the attributes of the territory also have an impact on the mobility potential of its inhabitants and their possibility to contribute to society. As such, the relative functional diversity, residential population density and territorial accessibility of the central districts of large towns are often presented as more favourable to ageing than suburban areas. So where does that leave medium-sized towns, peri-urban territories and rural areas? Are they home to substantially different, and even contrasted, development issues requiring a particular AFC policy? In this article, we look at the role played by development and urban planning in the construction and consolidation of territories favourable to ageing according to different living environments. We start by proposing a typology of residential forms in six regions of Québec (Outaouais, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Montréal, Laval and Mauricie), highlighting common but often contrasted, and even differentiated, issues. We then debate these issues in the light of seven discussion groups organised with seniors in these territories. While the complexity of the issues appears fundamental, their common denominator is that the combination of proximity and accessibility proves to be a privileged and fundamental subject of multidisciplinary discussion and intervention.