Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity Design and Community Regeneration: older people in socio-economically deprived communities in South Wales

The design of the physical environment can contribute to a decline in the social environment. Careful redesign of the physical environment can therefore be used as a way to deter undesirable behaviour and reduce crime. Environmental improvements designed to create safer communities in deprived areas rarely consider how older people perceive and construct personal safety; this results in neglect of their needs and concerns. This project was centred on some of the most socioeconomically deprived regions in South Wales, where there are particular concerns for the personal safety of older people, and investigated how this situation might be improved. It adopted a user-led methodology to reveal the personal safety issues faced by older people in deprived communities. The research identified particular areas and routes used by local people and the safety issues associated with them. Although perceptions of safety cannot be reduced solely to features of the physical environment, they are very much tied up with the social changes which characterise such areas. • Measures to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour in communities do little to make older residents feel safe. Frequently, these measures are based on a perspective of safety that is not reflected in the perceptions of older people. Their effectiveness may be greatly enhanced by ensuring that analysis of the physical environment is accompanied by analysis of the social environment. Changing the physical environment will not alone improve safety and inclusion, although it may be of some help. Policies which support the maintenance and upkeep of neighbourhoods could go some way in arresting the continual physical decline which encourages crime. • Underlying the concerns of many older people is a decline in the sense of community. This is thought to be brought about by rapid social change and many older people feel powerless in the face of these changes. Those surveyed have very considerable concerns about crime, which at least over half had experienced, and about antisocial behaviour, which all had experienced. • Situational crime prevention techniques have limited scope for reducing crime and fear, although they may make a contribution. Rather, it is the prevailing concerns about the social environment as a result of changing community dynamics and changes in attitudes, values and behaviours which need to be addressed. • This study developed a valuable approach for engaging older people in discussions about their communities, and priorities for action which could be incorporated into current methods …