Life experiences of elderly individuals in the city: Samsun case

Today, the elderly population is increasing both in the world and in Turkey. The rapidly aging world population has made the importance of aging phenomenan more prominent, and the literature on the aging process has developed in parallel with this increase. Thus, old age began to be discussed together with different processes such as modernization and urbanization. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on the experience of old age in modern urban life. The experience of aging in modern urban life is shaped according to the spatial opportunities offered by the cities, the social policies developed at the central and local level, and the social, economic and cultural environment in which the people live. Elderly individuals face problems in adapting to new lifestyles, habits and needs brought by urban life. The intensity and diversity of these problems is directly related to the social, economic and cultural capital of the elderly. Investigating the daily life of elderly individuals on a city scale within the modern urban structure is a necessity to develop solutions for these problems. In this study, which deals with the urban life experiences of elderly individuals, the focus is on socio-cultural capital which includes the accumulation of the education, income, status, duration of being in the city, along with spacial factors. In the thesis, the daily life experiences of elderly people living in urban areas, in this case Samsun, were investigated. The main purpose of the study is to read the urban area through old age and to determine the relationship between the participation of elderly individuals in daily life in the city and their socio-cultural capital. In this respect, this relationship was investigated by conducting in-depth interviews with 34 participants living in Atakum, İlkadım and Canik districts in the city center of Samsun. The coding technique was used for the analysis to discover the regularities of the data obtained from these interviews. The data obtained were thematized and interpreted. In result of the research, it has been concluded that economic capital accumulation is also determinant in shaping the daily life experiences of elderly individuals, as well as socio-cultural capital. Another result of the research is that socio-cultural capital and economic capital accumulation also affect the spatial and social relations of elderly individuals in the urban area.