An application example: the Cronenbourg district pensioners’ mobility

6.5. An application example: the Cronenbourg district pensioners’ mobility

An exploratory analysis of the relationship between daily mobility and urban eco-landscapes was carried out with 19 retirees, over 60 years of age, all living in a residential suburb near Strasburg: the Saint Antoine sector, built in the 1950s to 1960s in the Cronenbourg neighborhood.

The eco-landscape throughout the urban community of Strasburg enabled us to produce the typology presented in Table 6.1. A total of 769 trips were identified. The spatial structure of mobility led to distinguishing four groups of individuals, as illustrated in Figure 6.4:

– those who visited places that are primarily concentrated around the home (concentrated distribution);

– those who visited places that form an axis between the home and downtown (axial distribution);

– those who visited places that are limited to a sector of the city and suburbs (sectorial distribution);

– those who visited places that are spread over several sectors of the city and suburbs (multisectorial distribution).

By searching for landscape constants related to visiting and representing places, regardless of the group of individuals, four types of urban eco-landscapes are highly visited by elderly people (at least twice a week): high-density housing areas (grands ensembles); industrial zones and/or mixed commercial-residential zones; former nuclei integrated into the city; and the historical center of the built-up area. However, those that are represented are limited to heritage and institutional landscapes, generally in the downtown area: historical center, the downtown area

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with large buildings, large-scale public buildings (hospital, university, etc.) and parks.

Figure 6.4. Examples of the spatial structure of mobility four remarkable distributions

However, major differences appear based on the groups that were created from the spatial structure of daily mobility. Note that the average occurrence of an urban eco- landscape visited is calculated based on all trips of the individual during the week. Consequently, the average frequencies for the landscapes visited are generally greater than those represented.

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When distribution is axial, the landscapes represented seem to conflict with the landscapes visited (see Figure 6.5). Indeed, when the heritage landscapes (historical center, downtown made up of large buildings, old centers integrated into the current urban fabric) are highly visited, it is the sectors where public buildings predominate that are represented. Moreover, seven types of landscapes are either only represented or only visited. Two types of environmental values seem to appear. First, heritage environmental values based on both the representation and visiting of places. Second, functional environmental values in the suburbs from both the landscape point of view (grands ensembles, mixed residential-industrial zone) and the property point of view (essentially behavioral base).

Unlike the first group, when trip distribution is multisectorial, the urban heritage landscapes become more apparent in the representation than they are actually visited (see Figure 6.6). Isolated villages are visited without, however, being mentioned in the representation of the city. Also, urban forests, and especially landscapes made up of houses with large gardens, community gardens, grands ensembles and sports centers in the surrounding areas do not appear in the representation, even though they are visited. Here the environmental values are in opposition with the heritage city in terms of nature and greenery, the first being identitary, with the second having a strong behavioral basis.

Figure 6.5. Comparison of average occurrences between landscapes represented and landscapes visited for axial distributions

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Figure 6.6. Comparison of average occurrences between landscapes represented and landscapes visited for multisectorial distributions

Figure 6.7. Comparison of average occurrences between landscapes represented and landscapes visited for concentrated distributions

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When the distribution of weekly trips is concentrated (see Figure 6.7), as for the previous group, the representation is essentially made up of ad-hoc elements from all urban heritage landscapes, while the landscapes visited are strongly limited to residential areas with large gardens. Here, the environmental values are essentially based on urban vegetation and residential areas, along with a strong urban identity.

Lastly, when the spatial distribution of trips is sectorial (see Figure 6.8), the landscapes visited are concentrated in the grands ensembles and the mixed industrial-residential zones, whereas the landscapes represented are primarily urban historical landscapes found downtown. Here the environmental values are essentially urban, with a symbolic heritage component on one hand and a functional suburb component on the other.

Figure 6.8. Comparison of average occurrences between landscapes represented and landscapes visited for sectorial distributions

This example, which comes out of an exploratory study on a few individuals that are specific because of their age, shows major differences in the morphology of the places visited, although the entire sample lives in the same neighborhood and in the same type of housing. In order for the environmental values that confirm these differences to be more explicit, more advanced statistical analyses (comparisons of averages, multivariate analysis of variance, AFCM, ACP, etc.) should be carried out

Comment [MSOffice6]: What do these in order to better understand the structure of data collected, which this sample did

abbreviations stand for ? not allow us to do. Adding an interview at the end of the self-observation phase

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would also help identify certain dimensions of the signified for environmental values, in particular using the spatiotemporal grid for the level of spontaneity of trips [RAM 05].

This example shows that the signifiers for the environmental values can be described by simultaneously taking into account their cognitive or behavioral dimensions.

The sociological dimension should not be ignored. Indeed, the level of education of the respondents is the variable that appears to best explain the four empirically formed groups of citizens. An analysis of a larger sample would allow us to statistically ascertain this and would open up other avenues of exploration regarding the link between daily trips and sociospatial segregation. Moreover, a larger sample would allow us to carry out more in-depth analyses by studying each trip mode separately, by comparing them or even comparing the results obtained based on the classes of activities behind the trip.