What does it take to design a city that serves you for life? And why do many, including the World Health Organization, consider age-inclusivity particularly valuable?

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It’s easy for certain groups or dimensions to be overlooked when designing towns, neighbourhoods and facilities. Age is one such dimension; we often prioritise young and middle adults when we think about what a city needs. But it’s better for us, our towns and communities integrate the specific needs of all age groups including children and the elderly.

Besides, demographics in urban environments are changing. As people live longer, many countries have been seeing an ageing population. This article by Greyson Clark at Arup provides an overview of the key ways towns can support their elderly populations. As a bonus, these initiatives provide benefits for other age groups and entire communities.

Every stage in life brings different challenges and needs. These can be integrated into a city with an “age-inclusive” design. This focus encourages designers and planners to not only think of how infrastructure will age, but how its use will change as people develop.

Arup provides some key needs for seniors. The first is Autonomy & Independence. A big part of this is whether you can get where you want to go easily and by yourself. The big thing here is transport. Is there easy and affordable public transport available? Are services and facilities like supermarkets, medical care and parks close by?

For this aspect, they also recommend creating walkable environments with clear signposting and local information available. And even if you’re primarily staying home, there need to be ways for you to access everything you need with ease and dignity.

The second need is Health & Wellbeing. As well as access to healthcare and medical facilities, this also means more green spaces, a strong connection to nature, and more opportunities for exercise and play.

Next is Social Connectedness. There are plenty of ways that this can manifest and these will overlap with the other needs. For instance, we can create facilities and spaces for group exercise. We should also allow for intergenerational neighbourhoods and spaces. These initiatives are known to be beneficial for all involved. They give opportunities for play, for various age groups to help and learn from each other, and to bring joy and relieve a sense of isolation.

Arup also includes civic participation in this section. Here, we would ensure there are multiple, clear means for seniors to get involved in their communities. This overlaps with autonomy: seeing yourself making a difference and being a vital part of your spaces.

Finally, Security & Resilience. This involves being ready for emergencies. It means considering groups like young children and the elderly when planning safety measures or evacuations. For the more day-to-day, it means preparing for changing climates and extremes. For instance, making sure there are shelters and shaded areas to help with rain or heat.

And it means making sure our streets are safe and easily navigable. We’ve talked about this plenty: slowing traffic, more car-free spaces, street design, and improved public transport among other things will make our streets safer and easier to use.

These needs and their outcomes touch on many ideas we’ve discussed before. Safer streets? Better public transport and walkability? More green spaces and green infrastructure? Outside of benefiting our elderly populations, they would lead to more equitable, healthier and enjoyable cities for all.

Clark’s article gives an example of a retirement community in Singapore, the Kampung Admiralty residential development. It was designed to include services like a health centre, supermarket, bank, and daycare centre on site. This means residents don’t have to go far to get their essentials and spend time with family. There’s even a large area for group fitness.

Cities that encourage intergenerational communities and age-friendly design benefit us all. Of course, there are widespread benefits from increased biodiversity and greenery in our neighbourhoods. Same with ensuring we have a solid, accessible and affordable public transport system. And safer, more walkable streets reduce the chance of weaponised vehicles while creating spaces for play. All of these may further contribute to higher life expectancy.

Even the World Health Organization has a framework for age-friendly cities. Their principles are similar to the ones we’ve already mentioned.

These principles, again, are about creating autonomy, dignity, and community.

It’s easy for certain to be left out of our planning conversations. It’s important to remember that as we age, our needs and desires for spaces will change. To ensure our towns accommodate us throughout our lives, designers and planners must consider the unique needs and desires of each age bracket and how these, too, may change with time. And, as always, these changes should never be made without the involvement of the groups they are targeting.

We’ll likely talk more about the importance of including these oft-overlooked populations in future posts. Young children and teenagers, too, tend not to be included in discussions of how their towns should reflect them and their needs.

But for now, where have you already seen some wonderful age-inclusive design? What else needs to be considered to achieve an all-age-friendly or intergenerational community?

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Further resources

• What does an age-inclusive city look like? by Greyson Clark
• Age friendly communities, resources by Te Tari Kaumātua
• Cities Alive: Designing for urban childhoods by Jerome Frost
• “Children design for living creatures, not for cars, egos, or corporations” by Talk Wellington
• Creating Livable Cities for All Ages: Intergenerational Strategies and Initiatives by Willem van Vliet

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