ARTICLE Enacting agency: exploring how older adults shape their neighbourhoods Carri Hand 1,2 *, Debbie Laliberte Rudman 1,2 , Suzanne Huot 3 , Rachael Pack 4 and Jason Gilliland 5 1 School of Occupational Therapy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 2 Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 3 Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of British Columbia, Canada, 4 Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada and 5 Department of Geography, School of Health Studies, Department of Paediatrics and Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada *Corresponding author. Email: chand22@uwo.ca (Accepted 9 August 2018) Abstract Within research on ageing in neighbourhoods, older adults are often positioned as impacted by neighbourhood features; their impact on neighbourhoods is less often con- sidered. Drawing on a study exploring how person and place transact to shape older adults’ social connectedness, inclusion and engagement in neighbourhoods, this paper explores how older adults take action in efforts to create neighbourhoods that meet indi- vidual and collective needs and wants. We drew on ethnographic and community-based participatory approaches and employed qualitative and geospatial methods with 14 older adults in two neighbourhoods. Analysis identified three themes that described the ways that older adults enact agency at the neighbourhood level: being present and inviting casual social interaction, helping others and taking community action. The participants appeared to contribute to a collective sense of connectedness and creation of social spaces doing everyday neighbourhood activities and interacting with others. Shared territories in which others were present seemed to support such interactions. Participants also helped others in a variety of ways, often relating to gaps in services and support, becoming neigh- bourhood-based supports for other seniors. Finally, participants contributed to change at the community level, such as engaging politically, patronising local businesses and making improvements in public places. Study findings suggest the potential benefits of collabor- ating with older adults to create and maintain liveable neighbourhoods. Keywords: neighbourhoods; person–place interactions; civic engagement Introduction Person and place transact through complex and multi-layered interactions, each con- tinually shaping the other (Cresswell, 2004). The natural, built, social, service and policy features embedded within neighbourhoods can support older adults’ partici- pation and wellbeing (e.g. Clarke and Nieuwenhuijsen, 2009; Levasseur et al., 2015). © Cambridge University Press 2018 Ageing & Society (2018), 1–19 doi:10.1017/S0144686X18001150 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X18001150 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Western Ontario, on 22 Feb 2019 at 16:55:46, subject to the Cambridge Core