Accessibility to essential services and facilities by a spatially dispersed aging population in suburban Melbourne, Australia

Advances in microelectronics and the increasing use of digital mobile technologies associated with location based service (LBS) provision and consumption, have started to profoundly change the way we make decisions about when, how and where we do things. Microelectronics based modes of communication have extended our capacity to escape the `spatial fix' that has constrained our ability to access and consume services outside the home environment in the past. In the mean time, spatially dispersed ageing population is becoming a challenging issue for public policy makers in many developed countries. Australia has opted to deal with this unprecedented ageing issue via an `ageing in place' strategy, encouraging the elderly or seniors to live in their own housing for as long as possible, with only minimal support from public authorities. This strategy has been widely supported by the community. However, it poses a number of serious challenges for both policy makers and seniors alike. These include the issue of personal mobility and the ability to access those things that are deemed essential to ones well-being and quality of life from outside the home. The elderly or seniors are often identified as being subject to social exclusion because of difficulties associated with travelling outside their homes to access services and facilities, especially towards the outskirts of major urban centres, where services and facilities are generally only readily accessible by car. As drivers age and are required to surrender their driving licences, accessibility to a range of services and facilities either in their immediate neighbourhood or surrounding region will become a major issue especially in those locales where public transport infrastructure is inadequate.