« On a vue sur le parking ! » Configuration sociospatiale et supports à l’existence autour d’un béguinage pour personnes âgées

Abstract

New housing models offer elderly people and people with disabilities a third option beyond institutional care, which is deemed too restrictive, and away from some of the pitfalls of life at home. This paper focuses on the influence of physical amenities on the collective dynamics of living, drawing on a case study. It is based on the real-life experience of a group of elderly people who, in 2021, moved into a beguinage in a small rural community in Hauts-de-France. The housing is social, adapted, ecological. It is built around communal areas. The dwellings are independent. The methodology is based mainly on interviews with residents, supplemented by photographs, in three sequences. The article first describes the emergence of a socio-spatial configuration geared towards a central car park. It then traces the daily life of neighbours living within this configuration, through an analysis of local gossip. Lastly, the article examines the type of local regulation observed in this context and the way in which collective links are defined.

Image: Vue du parking depuis la cuisine de M. et Mme Delforge (novembre 2021). © Bertillot et Vanneste, 2021.