ABSTRACT
This chapter explores environmental gerontology–another field within gerontology that explores person-place relationship, albeit from a different tradition than geographical gerontology, it suggests that a natural bridge between environmental and geographical gerontology is the powerful construct of place. Tracing the evolution of conceptual development in environmental gerontology, the chapter focuses on four critical propositions that underlie the concept of place from an environmental gerontology perspective. Four intrinsic propositions suggested by emergent use of place as a concept in environmental gerontology: places are purposeful, places are catalysed by co-activity, places are bound by the physical setting, and place and self are reciprocal. The Ecological Framework of Place is but one heuristic that attempts to synthesize and accommodate developments within environmental gerontology but also responds well to the characteristics regarding the concept of place found in geographical gerontology. Place is a complex construct involving the dynamic interplay of structural and procedural aspects that result in differential outcomes for individuals, social groups and cultures.
