Suburbia als "räumliche Falle"? Folgen der demographischen und sozialräumlichen Entwicklung von Großstädten am Beispiel Hamburgs

Due to the processes of re-urbanization metropolitan areas don´t seem to be affected by the consequences of demographic change. Also the city of Hamburg is characterized by a low-growing population till 2025. But a small-scale analysis of the demographic and social change shows a differentiated spatial development within the city. On the one hand the inner-urban districts are affected by the immigration of young in-movers. On the other hand the lower and middle class suburban districts are characterized by the processes of aging and poverty. The consequence is that more and more poor elderly have to organize their everyday life in these monofunctional districts. A study about the action spaces in different urban contexts shows that there is an age impact on action spaces in peripheral areas. While the action spaces of employed persons are oriented to the inner-city the mobility of the elderly is concentrated on their neighborhood. This concentration increases by poverty and social isolation as a result of spatial effects of the monofunctional residential area. So there is a spatial impact on social disadvantage especially of the poor elderly in these suburban districts