Who Are Cities For?
The past two years have yielded time for introspection of ourselves and the places we live. As workforces and the world of business are changing, are our cities keeping up?
The Future of Cities Summit was held by Tortoise Media on November 25th, 2021. There were a total of five sessions as part of the summit. The first was hosted by Liz Mosely titled “Who are cities for?
Overlooking the city of Seville, Spain from the top of Metropol Parasol. Photo by: N.Cohen
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Hosted by Liz Mosely, Editor, Tortoise Media, this session featured three speakers that outlined who cities are typically designed for, and how we need to rethink how we are designing cities for a future where people are living longer.
Natalie Turner (Head of Localities, Centre for Ageing Better) outlined the change in older populations in cities. As healthcare and medicine have improved over the decades, people are now living longer in developed countries, which is in turn increasing populations.
Where you live has an impact on the age at which a person may develop health conditions that have an impact on the ways they live their lives. A person may live to approximately 60 in a city like London before having a health condition, whereas a person living in a suburb or rural community may live until their mid 70’s before having a health condition affecting their well being.
The number of people (age 50+) renting apartments in big cities has doubled in recent decades, and most people between the ages of 50 and 75 will need to continue working. This means that there needs to be a focus in cities to allow older people to continue to live in their neighborhoods where they have built their friendships and communities. Additionally, we will need to make workplaces accessible for older workers.
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Sowmya Parthasarathy (Urban Design Leader, ARUP) discussed the biggest challenges facing older people living in cities: loss of individual freedoms, social isolation, and diminishing access to infrastructure.
As aging begins to take its toll on everyday mobility, getting out of the house The loss of everyday freedoms, and inability to get out of the house. As family and friends move away, it is typically more difficult for older people to downsize in their same community. For example, a neighborhood with “family houses” may not have nearby apartments of similar quality, but reduced size and increased accessibility.
Diminishing access to city infrastructure is disproportionately felt by older people in cities. Healthcare facilities and institutions are very large and challenging to navigate, and everyday infrastructure like stairways and crowded streets can become large obstacles for healthy participation in city amenities.
Parthasarathy presented a series of solutions to better address equitable design of cities.
Increase access to public transport and creating walkable routes to transit, as well as increasing the amount of accessible housing would provide the greatest improvement towards integration of older populations within cities.
Promoting inter-generational programs that encourage sharing of knowledge similar have shown benefits towards mental well being and improving an overall sense of community. In Japan gardening programs have been offered that create a community between younger and older gardeners. A recent initiative in Paris made it easier for older home owners to rent out rooms in their houses to students. The program provided some basic income to older people, and affordable rent for students with an added sense of responsibility.
Designing healthcare for the future will be a major task. A design for a 200-bed healthcare facility called The Living Systems Hospital was awarded the Wolfson Economics Prize for 2021. Ad Rogers Design was inspired by the ‘adaptive qualities of living systems found in nature.’ The building design attempts to offer a holistic approach to healthcare and healing.
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Lisa Taylor (Executive Director, Future of London) discussed the impact that housing has on a persons health. Wealthier individuals can live in their homes for a longer period of time; poorer people may end up in care homes at a younger age. There is little variety for living accommodations for older people, which is why there needs to be increased policy focused on older people.
Climate change is forcing us to improve the energy performance of our buildings. While new construction can accommodate changes in design standards, retrofits to existing buildings are more difficult to design. Cost will be a problem for a long time with these kind of repairs, and this will be a challenge for maintaining the heritage characteristics of a building and retrofitting buildings due to climate change.
Taylor discussed an idea is to find a piece of property for a co-operative living space for older people. The cost of having 25 people living in isolation is more costly to a government in terms of public services than allowing these people to build a communal housing structure for themselves. Taylor’s idea is not an old age home; it is a place to live. The community would work together to discuss how each person can get the best out of their experience. A person may have to move into a dedicated care facility at a later time if that would best suit the community member.
As our populations change, so too will the cities we live in.
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Nathan Cohen - 02 December 2021
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The session by Tortoise Media was broken into five different sessions:
What are cities for?
What is London now?
Net Zero: can cities deliver us from the climate crisis?
What is the purpose of city centres now?
Can we create enough city homes?
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