title: Urban and rural dimensions of global population aging: an overview.
abstract: In keeping with the worldwide pattern of increased urbanization, the elderly population has become more concentrated in urban areas during the past 50 years. In developed countries as a whole, an estimated 73 percent of people aged 65 or over lived in urban areas in 1990, a figure that is projected to reach 80 percent by the year 2015. In developing nations, which are still predominantly rural, just over one-third of people aged 65 or over lived in urban areas in 1990, projected to exceed one-half by 2015. This article provides an overview of global data on urban elders, examines extant data on gender balances and migration patterns, and considers the importance of subnational urban/rural differences and whether rural elderly are disadvantaged relative to their urban counterparts.
authors.affiliation: International Programs Center, U.S. Census Bureau, USA. kevin.g.kinsella@census.gov
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kinsella
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population