Fostering Age-Friendly Rural Communities in the North of the Netherlands An exploratory case study in the Oldambt municipality Vincent de Vegt MASTER THESIS | SOCIO-SPATIAL PLANNING | FACULTY OF SPATIAL SCIENCES RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN Colophon Title: Fostering Age-Friendly Rural Communities in the North of the Netherlands Author: Vincent J. de Vegt S2517094
[email protected] Program: MSc Socio-Spatial Planning Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Faculty of Spatial Sciences Landleven 1 9747 AD Groningen Supervisor: Dr. W.S. Rauws, PhD External-Supervisor: Dr. E. Bulder, PhD External Institute: Kenniscentrum NoorderRuimte Date: August 2018 Fostering Age-Friendly Rural Communities 2 Preface Dear Reader, This thesis addresses the topic of age-friendliness in rural community in the Netherlands. The need to stimulate the creation of community’s that allow elderly individuals is something that is relevant in both cities and rural regions. However, rural regions receive less attention in academic literature, despite the burden of an ageing population being greater. The motivation to write a thesis on this topic is twofold. First I have always been interested in how the physical and social environment can be shaped through interventions to stimulate healthier behavior. The second motivator was that this topic was offered at the thesis market via a research-center affiliated with the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Kenniscentrum NoorderRuimte. The fact this study can possibly be developed further and built upon at NoorderRuimte motivated me. The supervision of Dr. Elles Bulder helped me to expand the theories and theoretical thinking to more practical applications. Also the contacts and expertise within NoorderRuimte helped develop a thesis that can hopefully be of use to the people living in Oldambt.