Urban Spaces for All

The number of people aged 65 and older is expected to increase from 790,000 to 1.4 million in 2048, so around 24% of New Zealanders. Let’s face it; most of us will grow old in cities.

It was once assumed that seniors who could afford to would move to the suburbs, live in a gated community, or spend their days laxing at a beachfront summerhouse. For many of us today, this is too expensive. Staying in cities might also mean staying close to family and friends, and where we grew up or raised children.

Most of us don’t want to move around in old age. Those who downsize are more likely to move to a smaller home within that same community. Some cannot move because of a lack of options, which plays it part in the housing crisis.

Since the turn of the century, most OECD countries have committed to reducing the number of people living in traditional institutional care in favour of ‘ageing in place’. New Zealand policies from the 2000s reflect this, where integrated health and disability support and home-based services championed senior independence and freedom.

Perhaps we’re stuck in the 2000s, though. Urban centres live the widening gap between the super-rich and poor. Retirees with financial security can access personalised care and upgraded housing, but those without it face challenges like long wait times for publicly funded support and below standard housing.

Generally, our urban spaces are not designed to meet the needs of older people, a growing issue as our population ages. Our cities often don’t enable older people to participate or be included in public life.

Ageing with dignity in cities (and beyond) takes more than just policy; it demands infrastructure. The entire community benefits when we design public places, land use, and spatial planning that are comfortable for older people and intentionally include them.

Why Inclusive Urban Spaces Matter

In 2022, the Office for Seniors released an age-friendly urban places guide outlining the city design practices that benefit older people. Director of the Office for Seniors Diane Turner says that making a community age-friendly doesn’t just help older people; it helps everyone.

“It means that as people age, they can continue to live the lives they want and stay connected to the people and things that matter to them,” she said.

The guide comes as part of the United Nation’s Decade of Healthy Ageing. Launched at the end of 2020, the collaborative plan is led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and aims to accelerate global efforts to address the needs of our ageing populations. The WHO says that population ageing and urbanisation are two of the biggest social transformations of the 21st century.

Hamilton, New Plymouth, and Auckland are some of the New Zealand cities that have joined the WHO’s global network for age-friendly cities.

Yet cities and communities rarely tackle these two changes at once by considering the older population in design processes, whether it’s accessible transport, public seating, or barrier-free buildings, to name just a few age-friendly features. How great is a city to live in if people cannot comfortably grow old there?

The ’15-minute city’ is one where someone can fulfil most of their daily life in a 15-minute radius of where they live. From Portland to Melbourne (with its 20-minutes neighbourhoods), these centres have strong local economies, more equitable and inclusive community spaces, lower transport emissions, better air quality, better health and wellbeing outcomes, the list goes on.

It’s a list that mirrors the changes needed to support urban seniors. They feature accessible transport, barrier-free buildings, public seating, and facilities to ensure safety and convenience. They encourage active living, social connection and culture. To create truly age-friendly cities is to address the systemic social issues of urbanisation.

The Case of Toyama City

Japan is the world’s leading ageing society. This year nearly one third of its population will be aged over 65. Since the 2000s, Toyama City has made an effort to be age-friendly, its Compact City Strategy focusing on age-friendly developed public transport, senior activities, and subsidised housing within a 500-metre radius of train stations to encourage city density.

Innovation is a key value for Toyama City. Known as the ‘City of Medicine’ since the Edo Period (1603-1868) its long been the centre for traditional medicine in Japan. Its age-friendly urban strategy sees this longstanding history for improving its citizens’ wellbeing enter a modern era.

Toyama is a global exemplar for senior urban spaces. City mayor Masashi Mori says the compact city plan approach is “all carrots, no sticks” where residents are encouraged to move around and get involved in their community, but aren’t punished for their inertia. Over 65s have travel passes that cut public transport costs, and many city museums and attractions offer free entry to grandparents with their grandchildren, as two examples.

Mori looks at many metrics, and is encouraged by statistics like the proportion of over 65s in the city, which has steadily grown and remains above the national average. The proportion of Toyama requiring primary nursing care has also stayed flat at about 18.5%, a key figure for Mori that proves critics wrong.