Proceedings of CITTA 5th Annaul Conference on Planning Research: Planning and Ageing: Think, Act and Share Age-Friendly Cities

Abstract

The 5th Annual Conference of our research centre, CITTA, with the general theme – Planning for Ageing: Think, Act and Share Age-Friendly Cities – took place in the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity, emphasizing the relevance of addressing population change and new demands to communicate and serve the entire citizenry. The conference intended to stimulate the debate on the importance of planning for ageing. It is imperative nowadays to bring ageing into planning by raising awareness of planners in developing inclusive communities and environments, but also to encourage policymakers and other stakeholders in creating better opportunities for older people to live in our contemporary societies. The populations of the world are changing. In some countries, the number of senior citizens will strongly increase. The number of older persons (60+) will double from the current 600 million to 1.2 billion by 2025, and again, to 2 billion by 2050. Homes, communities and environments have not been designed with older people’s needs and capacities in mind. Policy makers, planners and other urban actors should approach new agendas (like WHO Age Friendly Cities Guidelines) to ensure the quality of the tools and interventions they use. Experts need to guide policies and processes to achieve better results in the planning of services and infrastructures not only for the elderly but also for all ages; changing patterns of behaviour, lifestyle and expectations of new generations of older people should be taken into account. We were pleased to have the valuable contributions of Prof Taner Oc, from the Barttlet School of Planning of the University College of London, and of Prof Mike Biddulph, from Cardiff University, as keynote speakers, who have enriched and stimulated the debate with new perspectives and recent advances. The participants included mainly researchers from the academic world, both national and international planning research centres, with a large contribution of members of CITTA. The theme of the conference, for its transdisciplinarity, had the capacity to join papers from different research interests and fields of knowledge, focusing on diverse topics like: urban policies, social patterns and behaviours, urban design, mobility and transports, urban infrastructures and services, and others. This book follows the organization of the conference, being divided in four parts corresponding to the four parallel sessions. Part A includes five papers organized under the heading Urban Policies and Ageing, focusing on urban policies and (new) agendas regarding better results in the planning of services and infrastructures for all ages; Part B gathers eight papers under the heading Inclusive Communities - Tools and Approaches, highlighting new opportunities and solutions for building inclusive communities; Part C includes six papers under the heading Designing Age-Friendly Environments, addressing how age friendly design can support active living, healthy environments and social connectedness for all citizens and ages; and finally, Part C is organized with seven papers under the heading New Paradigms for Ageing Cities, discussing the need to shift the planning paradigm facing the new challenges of ageing cities. The editors of this book would like to thank all the authors and contributors involved in the organization of the conference, and, in particular, the scientific commission for all the work in the selection of the papers.