Urban Ageing, Gender and the Value of the Local Environment: The Experience of Older Women in a Central Neighbourhood of Madrid, Spain

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

First of all congratulations to the authors for the interest in the subject matter. However, the data is from 2015-2017 years ago. It would be interesting if the authors provided data on the current situation, and if the aspects identified in their research are maintained or increased, if others appear, etc.

The pandemic has also been suffered in this period, which has had a significant impact on older people and women.
Do the authors have data on the situation experienced in the neighborhood by older women? It would be very interesting to see the response
of social networks and the role of security that the neighborhood has for their relationships.

It would be a topic of interest for the discussion or approach of future research

Regarding the references. Review citations, to adapt them to the regulations of the magazine, for example number 5, complete them, for example number 15, etc. Check the correctness of the data of the references, for example number 10 Lebrusán Murillo, I. Housing in old age: problems and strategies for aging in society  2017. is his doctoral thesis

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

General Comment

The world has been going through a period of urbanization. With the growing population and economic activity, the world is experiencing a rapid expansion of urban regions in developing nations. On the other hand, many economically developed nations are experiencing the aging of society in general. Longevity is a common observation in both economically developed and developing cities. Meanwhile, cities are challenged to improve their governance and management of their finances to adapt to the changing economic structure, technological changes, and globalization of the economy. Therefore, investigating how the urban population is aging in such an environment is important for urban planners and policymakers to understand the consequences of current urban policies.

This research also reminds us of the value of the participatory planning approach in urban design and the value of allowing the elderly population to participate in neighborhood planning activities. Future studies will strengthen how the details of this research can be generalized for wider urban contexts. Therefore, this research discusses an important research topic.

The manuscript clearly explains the question and the purpose of the study and its rationale. And this study describes the context of research adequately so that readers can understand the transferability of the results.

Specific Comments.

The interview format is described as "....... ad hoc emergent design and a combination of 247 structured and semi-structured (stimulus-response) non-directed interviews."  in lines 247 and 248.  The sequence and process of data collection are not clear in this description. And what is the role of "key informants" and what information is used in that process? Such a description will help to understand the classification (Figure 4) and the meaning of the results clearly.

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

See above; pretty good article. Nevertheless some comments.

p2 the urban dimension does noet received the attention it deserves... i don't think this is truth. The research and policy text are overwhelmingly available.

p3, line 25... authors talk about general concensus... Is strong statement which  needs references.

Results section: start rather week, but becomes better (especially whet it concers the changes of the neighbourhood. section are very uneven (some very short, some others longer - these are the best).

section 3.2.1. Revelant? is a very short piece, not convincing, leave it out, no added value

section 3.2.2. weak section

     what are the difficulties of accessing? (name them)

     what are the other urban planning problems?

     what is symbolic comfort?

p12, line 36: where does the ref to Jacobs comes from? No added value.

3.3. strong section --> should the problems with drugs (et al) and the gentrificition issue ('with both important impacts) no be introduces in the ... Introduction, or in a theoretical part dealing with changes in the neighbourhood? 

3.4.1. unclear why this is revelant.

p 15: figure 5=irrelavant (it is not a comparative research).

 

p 1/, line 57... the elderly of the future will be urban... This is not truth, there will be elderly everywhere and in the countryside the problems will be larger, given the abscence of care.

 

 

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf