Why choose one area over another when reaching one's sixties?
Naturally financial criteria will come into play in Luxembourg - with house prices ever increasing, people choose their place of residence according to their means.
But it is far from the sole reason, as the question of convenient local services, and good relations between residents are also important, said the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) in a recent report.
There is indeed a link between ageing in good health, and the characteristics of one's environment, said Marion Patte, geography doctorate at the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne and at LISER. Multiple environmental factors affect healthy ageing, she said.
Socio-economic groups, ethnicity, pollution, security, access to services such as public transport - a number of factors which mean the neighbourhoods where elderly people live are not homogeneous. These characteristics can have repercussions on older people's health.
A survey conducted in 2015/2016 among 500 people aged over 65 confirmed this link. Elderly people who have placed a high value on the ease of access to local services in choosing their neighbourhood, and those who perceive good fraternal relations between residents are more likely to be in good health and remain independent in carrying out daily tasks.
This is a challenge that is becoming more crucial in Luxembourg, as the number of people aged 65 and over has tripled in 50 years: from 33,958 in 1961 to 99,986 in 2017. Figures could climb to 200,000 by 2060 as the population ages.
