[Older people in larger cities-A look at the infrastructure provision on a local level]

Against the background of demographic ageing in cities, it becomes increasingly more important to study the living conditions of old persons. Using municipal statistical data from the Inner City Monitoring System and geodata, the study examined the number of facilities for the provision of services of general interest in the areas of health and the needs of daily living in urban districts of major German cities. The focus is on districts with a high proportion of people aged 65 years and over in order to assess if there is sufficient provision of infrastructure for older people. In addition, survey data are combined with municipal statistical data in order to examine self-assessments of the distances to such facilities. The results show small-scale disparities as there are significant differences between old and young districts (few people aged 65 years and older). There are fewer pharmacies and post offices in older districts. The accessibility of the infrastructure within walking distance is rated worse in old districts than in young districts. This can be particularly problematic for very old and less mobile people whose radius of mobility is limited to the residential area. It can be concluded that small-scale municipal monitoring is crucial to detect gaps in the infrastructure. In further studies, the actual use of infrastructures and the diversity in the group of older people are taken into account.