What about community sustainability? – dilemmas of ageing in shrinking semi-rural areas in Sweden

ABSTRACTMany municipalities in Sweden have decreasing population rates combined with an increasing proportion of older people. Such a demographic shift will influence the way life is led as the foundation for service provision and social activities becomes undermined. This leads us to question the extent to which shrinking municipalities can be considered socially sustainable. The aim of the paper was to investigate older people’s participation in the local community and to study the perceived changes in the local community as reported by older people and how these are experienced. A postal survey was sent out to all inhabitants aged 80 years and older living in their own household in three small, semi-rural municipalities in southern Sweden, in total 1386. The response rate was 60%. Thus, focus was on the experiences of the oldest individuals. The research questions analysed for this study concerned the ageing population’s social networks, community involvement, car dependence and service provision. The ...