<p>The population of Sweden is ageing as in almost every European country. Improved medical progresses and treatment options lead to a decreasing mortality at older ages, increasing life expectance and an advanced health of the elderly. Due to these improvements and the so called ‘baby- boomers’, a great number of persons born in the 1940s that will reach retirement age the coming years, their total number will increase strongly in the near future all over Sweden. To enable these elderly to live a normal, active and independent life as long as possible activities, services and special housing with improved accessibility and meeting places for elderly has to be provided. Thus, for local authorities it is essential to know the actual and favoured living conditions as well as environments of elderly. This study aims therefore to investigate the characteristic of preferred residential neighbourhoods of the elderly in the city of Norrköping. The demographic, social and crime situation was examined for the districts of the city using several methods from both Statistics and GIS. Statistical methods included classifications, indexes or indicators and bivariate correlations. A model was developed to combine demographic and social data to characterise districts. GIS was to a major extent used as a visualisation tool. Choropleth mapping and Kernel density estimations were used to illustrate distribution of elderly and crime. Preliminary global statistical tests were used to verify clustering in the crime data set. An accessibility analysis was conducted with the help of the network analyst tool. Results indicate that districts experiencing the highest total numbers and proportion of elderly are very distributed throughout the city of Norrköping. They are, with some exceptions, characterised by lower social status. Four districts of the city show considerable evidences of demographic ageing, experiencing a population pyramid formed like an urn. Beside districts where elderly constitute a bigger proportion of the population, they tend to live in districts characterised by a relatively high proportion of young adults aged between 20 and 29. Crime analyses have shown crime clusters in different parts of the city. A high proportion of elderly faces a high crime level in the districts Gamla staden, Nordantill and Hageby. However, it has been proved that only some hot spots of crime within these areas contribute to the high crime level. Districts such as Skarphagen, Såpkullen, Smedby and Linö, all (except Såpkullen) situated on the outskirts of the city, hold high or middle elderly and a low crime level. Accessibility analyses have shown that elderly aged over 80 do not live significant closer to health centres and the public transport stops compared to the age groups 20 – 65 and inhabitants aged between 65 and 79.</p>

The population of Sweden is ageing as in almost every European country. Improved medical progresses and treatment options lead to a decreasing mortality at older ages, increasing life expectance and an advanced health of the elderly. Due to these improvements and the so called ‘baby- boomers’, a great number of persons born in the 1940s that will reach retirement age the coming years, their total number will increase strongly in the near future all over Sweden. To enable these elderly to live a normal, active and independent life as long as possible activities, services and special housing with improved accessibility and meeting places for elderly has to be provided. Thus, for local authorities it is essential to know the actual and favoured living conditions as well as environments of elderly. This study aims therefore to investigate the characteristic of preferred residential neighbourhoods of the elderly in the city of Norrköping. The demographic, social and crime situation was examined for the districts of the city using several methods from both Statistics and GIS. Statistical methods included classifications, indexes or indicators and bivariate correlations. A model was developed to combine demographic and social data to characterise districts. GIS was to a major extent used as a visualisation tool. Choropleth mapping and Kernel density estimations were used to illustrate distribution of elderly and crime. Preliminary global statistical tests were used to verify clustering in the crime data set. An accessibility analysis was conducted with the help of the network analyst tool. Results indicate that districts experiencing the highest total numbers and proportion of elderly are very distributed throughout the city of Norrköping. They are, with some exceptions, characterised by lower social status. Four districts of the city show considerable evidences of demographic ageing, experiencing a population pyramid formed like an urn. Beside districts where elderly constitute a bigger proportion of the population, they tend to live in districts characterised by a relatively high proportion of young adults aged between 20 and 29. Crime analyses have shown crime clusters in different parts of the city. A high proportion of elderly faces a high crime level in the districts Gamla staden, Nordantill and Hageby. However, it has been proved that only some hot spots of crime within these areas contribute to the high crime level. Districts such as Skarphagen, Såpkullen, Smedby and Linö, all (except Såpkullen) situated on the outskirts of the city, hold high or middle elderly and a low crime level. Accessibility analyses have shown that elderly aged over 80 do not live significant closer to health centres and the public transport stops compared to the age groups 20 – 65 and inhabitants aged between 65 and 79.