THE AGEING-MIGRATION-HOME NEXUS: Exploring Older Migrants' Sense of Home and Subjective Wellbeing. Translating Insights to Design

Abstract

This PhD dissertation departs from two trends. First, most older adults prefer to age in place, often in their long-time home. Older adults tend to spend most of their time inside their dwelling, which might be exacerbated in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the home and its immediate surroundings are important places in later life. However, older adults often live in inadequate dwellings. For example, in 2018 in Flanders (Belgium), only 14% of the housing stock was considered adequate for later life. This could threaten older adults’ ability to age in place and their wellbeing. Second, following migration streams and globalisation of the last decades, our population is becoming superdiverse. This means that with population ageing, our older population will increasingly diversify over the following decades, a trend that is also observed in Belgium. However, municipalities with a long-standing migration history, such as former mining municipalities in the province of Limburg, already face a high share of older adults with a migration background. Yet, the home experiences and needs of this group remain largely unrecognised. Therefore, this PhD aims to (1) explore older migrants’ sense of home, (2) their subjective wellbeing, and (3) how these insights can be translated to age-friendly and diversity-sensitive housing and neighbourhood design. To do so, this interdisciplinary PhD is situated within social sciences and (interior) architecture. In Part I, older migrants’ sense of home is explored through in-depth interviews with older migrants who live at home in Limburg, Belgium (n = 23). Given the focus on the home environment, interviews took place in participants’ homes and photo-elicitation was used to stimulate the conversation. The results highlight participants’ strong wish to age in place and cover older migrants’ residential reasonings behind their choice to age in place. In doing so, the importance of familiarity, control, social relations and ethnic identity is highlighted. Furthermore, as the importance of language emerged during the interviews, its role in older migrants’ sense of home is further explored, showcasing how language can be both a mobility uplift and barrier, as well as its strong intertwinement with identity. In Part II, older migrants’ subjective wellbeing is explored in relation to their sense of home. To do so, in-depth interviews with older migrants (n = 22) were conducted. First, given the subjective nature of wellbeing, older migrants’ meaning-making of the concept is explored. This pointed to the importance of health, social relations and independence in participants’ meaning-making of happiness. Next, the intersection of age(ing), migration background and housing in relation to older migrants’ subjective wellbeing is researched. Here, the dynamic nature of ageing in relation to wellbeing is discussed, as well as generational differences in the influence of migration background on wellbeing. Next to the influence of housing and environmental mastery, the results pointed to the role of health and homeownership in relation to older migrants’ wellbeing. In Part III, insights from Part I and II are translated to design via two research-by-design studies situated within a superdiverse neighbourhood. The first study explores age-friendly and diversity-sensitive housing design. First, older migrants' housing wants and needs are explored through interviews, pointing to the need for accessibility. Although most housing wants and needs seemed age-related, some participants also pointed to the need for cultural expression within the home. Next, these insights were incorporated into redesigning houses and apartments in an age-friendly and diversity-sensitive manner. This exercise has pointed to the importance of balancing comfort and control in housing design, where the (interior) architect can play a pivotal role. The second study adopts a broader focus by researching age-friendly and diversity-sensitive neighbourhood design. Departing from (walking) interviews with inhabitants from a superdiverse neighbourhood, four public places are redesigned to create community connection. In reflecting on the results and design process, the importance of affording various functions and intensities through design is highlighted, as this can answer the changing and diverse needs of a superdiverse population. Finally, Part IV provides an overview of the main contributions in relation to the research aims and general reflections on the PhD results and process. Moreover, the limitations of this PhD are discussed and linked to future researc