La mobilité quotidienne de banlieusards vieillissants et âgés: Déplacements, aspirations et significations de la mobilité

Les premières banlieues pavillonnaires nord-américaines sont problématiques pour le vieillissement à domicile. Malgré la dépendance à l'automobile, les banlieusards âgés aspirent à y vieillir. Plutôt que de déménager, ils adaptent leur quotidien et leurs déplacements. L'accès à la mobilité est un enjeu majeur au maintien d'une expérience résidentielle positive, notamment pour les individus en perte d'autonomie. Or, parce qu'elle est étudiée avec le concept de déplacement, la mobilité des aînés demeure mal comprise en tant qu'expérience individuelle et collective. C'est dans cette optique que les pratiques et les significations de la mobilité quotidienne de 87 banlieusards âgés de 55 à 82 ans de l'agglomération de Québec au Canada sont ici étudiées. En croisant des méthodes quantitative et qualitative ainsi que des techniques d'analyses spatiales, l'article développe une typologie de mobilité pour explorer les stratégies d'adaptation des aînés à leur environnement socio-spatial. Les résultats montrent que, sans véritablement entrer dans un processus de décision, les banlieusards choisissent implicitement de vieillir en banlieue en adaptant de manière continue leurs modes de vie. La conservation de l'indépendance et l'attachement au «mode de vie banlieusard>> sont à la source des aspirations résidentielles. Cette mobilité quotidienne en transformation risque aussi d'influencer les trajectoires résidentielles, alimentant les réflexions sur la requalification de ces milieux vieillissants.     

Residential segregation and inequality: Considering barriers to choice in Toronto

Segregation of visible minorities has persisted throughout time in Toronto. In examining these concentrations, the literature has been heavily focused on the notion that visible minorities are choosing to live in proximity to their respective ethno-racial groups and that these are spaces of aspiration rather than marginalization in Canada. This paper raises questions about the assertion of “self-segregation” by emphasizing affordability constraints on residential choices that are often rooted in discrimination in the labour market. Census data from 2016 and an adopted neighbourhood classification scheme were used to understand the spatial patterning of visible minorities in the Toronto census metropolitan area and highlight differences in the socio-economic characteristics of visible minority dominant and white dominant census tracts. The findings invite the inference that economic opportunities play a critical role in the residential choices of visible minorities and raise concerns about the quality of life in visible minority neighbourhoods. This research contributes to our understanding of how social inequalities have impacted the socio-spatial organization of the city of Toronto.     

Placing the second generation: A case study of Toronto

We examine the social mobility of the second generation in the Toronto metropolitan area by analyzing whether the adult children of immigrants live in more affluent and desirable neighbourhoods than the first generation. Using 2016 census microdata, we compare the social characteristics of census tracts where immigrants and the second and third-plus (3+) generations concentrate. The index of dissimilarity indicates the degree of residential separation among generations and for five ethno-racial second-generation groups: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Southern European, and Northern and Western European. The empirical findings show that the neighbourhoods where the first generation is over-represented are less affluent than those where the second and 3+ generations concentrate, with the largest improvements in social status occurring between the first and second generations. Although they frequently live in more distant suburban neighbourhoods than the first generation, the second generation still tends to live in inner and outer suburbs more than the exurban 3+ generation. For the second generation, the degree of residential concentration varies across ethno-racial groups with persistent segregation marking the residential locations of racial minorities. The findings highlight the variegated geographies and social mobility of the second generation in Canada's largest metropolitan area.     

Trends in the residential mobility of seniors in Canada, 1961–2006

This article examines residential mobility for seniors 65 years of age and older in Canada using census data from 1961–2006. We addressed three questions. First, have seniors been increasingly likely to change their residential location within Canada or alternatively become increasingly likely to age‐in‐place? Second, has the in‐migration of seniors to Canada from other countries become more pronounced over the years? Third, does the residential mobility of seniors vary by age and sex? We used census data to calculate the percentages of seniors who changed their residence in the five‐year periods prior to each of the 1961–2006 censuses and the percentages of seniors who moved in the previous year for the 1991–2006 censuses. We calculated the percentages of seniors making local moves, longer distance moves within the same province, moves from one province to another, and moves to Canada from another country. We found that rates of residential mobility for seniors tended to increase in the 1961–1981 period but have been lower and relatively consistent from 1986–2006. We found no evidence to suggest a pattern of sustained increase in residential mobility of seniors. We conclude that Canadian seniors tend to age‐in‐place and that when seniors do change residence, the likelihood of residential mobility decreases with the distance of the move and decreases with age. Nevertheless, the likelihood of changing residence may increase for seniors 75+ years of age who need assistance and are at risk of institutionalization. We found that senior women were more likely to change residence locally than senior men. Finally, we found that from 1961 to 2006 between 0.8 percent and 1.4 percent of seniors had migrated to Canada in the five years prior to each census from other countries and that this pattern has fluctuated over the past half century with no clear trend.