Abstract:

A review of geographical studies of elderly people & their social & environmental relationships published since the early 1970s identifies the main fields of research, assesses the strengths & limitations of the work, & comments on the moderate impact of this work on social gerontology. Special attention is paid to spatial & temporal variations in societal aging, including regional variations within nations, & new evidence is presented on the implications of rapid increases of the elderly population in Third World metropolitan areas. Data limitations & methodological weaknesses receive some attention, particularly the inadequacy of morbidity data. Three topics are recommended for future study: the long-term evolution of demographic aging, locational dimensions in the circumstances of eldelry people's lives, & temporal change in person-environment relations.