Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Transportation Business & Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rtbm How the built environment and the railway network can affect the mobility of older people: Analyses of the southern Swedish region of Scania Rosalia Camporeale a,b,c, ⁎ , Anders Wretstrand a,b,c , Magnus Andersson b,d a Division of Transport and Roads, Department of Technology and Society, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden b K2 The Swedish Knowledge Centre for Public Transport, Bruksgatan 8, 22236 Lund, Sweden c Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, P.O. Box 157, 22100 Lund, Sweden d Institute for Urban Research, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Population ageing Built environment Mobility choices Residential mobility Sustainable transport ABSTRACT Global society is rapidly ageing. Research on ageing and mobility suggests that better synergies could exist between older people and the built environment. The age-in-place policy will put increased demands on the transport system as a key facilitator for access. The main goal of this study is to examine the spatial distribution of older adults, assessing if it could be affected by selective characteristics of the surrounding built environment and, if so, to what extent. The study district is the region of Scania in the southern part of Sweden. Register-based longitudinal socio-demographic data such as income, employment and education associated with the outcomes of previous travel surveys conducted in the region are the main data sources to be considered. Correlated with population density patterns and expansion of the railway network, this longitudinal approach is expected to reveal causal inferences. Better knowledge may be gained about the environmental and demographic factors that may potentially lead older people to adapt their mobility choices according to the area in which they reside. Research findings could provide useful policy recommendations both to land use and transport planners, con- tributing to the development of age-friendly neighborhoods, cities and regions. 1. Introduction In most countries, the increasing proportion of older adults has been recognized as one of the greatest modern challenges, and Sweden is no exception (Abramsson & Andersson, 2012). Although there is no fixed threshold age at which an individual is defined as “old” (many physical, psychological and social factors can play a role), adults over 65 years of age old are usually considered “seniors” in the existing studies (Moore & Pacey, 2004; Rogerson, 1996). The profound impact over time that this change in the age com- position of the population is having, and will continue to have, on fu- ture policies is undeniable. In recent decades, the concept of ‘ageing in place’, i.e. older people living in their own home for as long as possible, has strongly emerged across disciplines. Traditionally, older adults were more likely to stay in their homes for as long as possible and only a minority of them moved out (Long, 1992; Stjernborg, Wretstrand, & Tesfahuney, 2015). In recent decades, however, the surge in the number of seniors in the total population and their lifestyle changes are raising questions about possible changes in their residential mobility patterns (Andersson & Abramsson, 2012; Hillcoat-Nalletamby & Ogg, 2014; Kramer & Pfaffenbach, 2009). The term ‘mobility’ in transportation research is defined as “the potential for movement” (Spinney, Scott, & Newbold, 2009). When compared to the younger adult population, it has been noted that, on average, seniors tend to travel less (make fewer trips, cover shorter distances) and have smaller activity zones (Yang, Xu, Rodriguez, Michael, & Zhang, 2018). Nevertheless, a good level of accessibility to shopping and health care providers for seniors, as well as social and cultural activities, should be preserved, and the public transport net- work is one viable alternative to making this possible. After all, active ageing is closely related to both active travel (i.e. walking, cycling) and to a good public transport network, which provide the opportunity to be connected to valued activities and people (Michael, Green, & Farquhar, 2006). Understanding the role of neighbourhood context in promoting active ageing could have important implications for land use planning and transportation. A comprehensive review of how the built environment can affect older adults' mobility can be found in Rosso, Auchincloss, and Michael (2011). They refer to the conceptualization by Frank, Engelke, Engelke, and Schmid (2003) of use patterns and urban design. Rosso et al. (2011) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2019.100368 Received 25 February 2019; Received in revised form 29 May 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Division of Transport and Roads, Department of Technology and Society, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden. E-mail addresses: rosalia.camporeale@tft.lth.se (R. Camporeale), anders.wretstrand@tft.lth.se (A. Wretstrand), magnus.e.andersson@mau.se (M. Andersson). Research in Transportation Business & Management xxx (xxxx) xxxx 2210-5395/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Please cite this article as: Rosalia Camporeale, Anders Wretstrand and Magnus Andersson, Research in Transportation Business & Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2019.100368