Designing for the future

Urban areas that work well for older people and people with disabilities will work well for all. We say that any national policy statement on urban design should give national strategic priority to the needs of these groups.

Age Concern New Zealand welcomes the decision to prepare a national policy statement on urban design and to improve the quality of urban design in New Zealand.

The ‘needs’ of property developers and motorists are often given priority over the needs of the people who live in our cities.  We would like to see this trend reversed and hope that the proposed national policy statement on urban design will assign a high priority to the ‘human’ criteria included in the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol, namely the requirements that the urban environment be liveable, healthy and inclusive. 

Given the steady increase in the number of over 65s and the tendency of this group to live in urban areas, a national policy statement on urban design must make specific mention of the needs of older people.

Illustration: From Professor Billie Giles-Corti, University of Western Australia's presentation -
Creating supportive environments so older people can support themselves. (Shows the prof's mother).
> LINK to the Conference 2009 presentation

Good urban design is crucial to active and positive ageing

The 2007 WHO report, Global Age-friendly Cities: a Guide reminds us just how crucial good urban design is to active and positive ageing: “The city’s landscape, buildings, transportation system and housing contribute to confident mobility, healthy behaviour, social participation and self-determination, or conversely to fearful isolation, inactivity and social exclusion.” (p.72)

Good urban design can have far-reaching implications for older people.  For example, the seemingly simple matter of the existence and type of footpaths can mean the difference between being able to stay in your own home or being forced to move because you can no longer get to the shops.  It can mean the difference between staying in touch with your community and becoming isolated and lonely.

Any national policy statement on urban design must therefore be detailed enough to ensure that growing old in urban New Zealand is a pleasure, not an ordeal.

Global Age-friendly Cities: A Guide was launched by the World Health Organisation as part of International Older Persons celebrations in 2007.

New Zealand cities achieve well in some areas, but there are many others where there's a long way to go.

"There are some so-called 'third world' cities that can teach New Zealanders lessons about looking after older residents."

The project surveyed 33 cities throughout the world, but the nearest to New Zealand were Melbourne, and Melville in Western Australia.

The problems and aspirations of older people are so consistent throughout the world. From Amman Jordan to Udine in Italy, people are asking for the same things as older New Zealanders: to be respected, to be included, and to have suitable and affordable housing.

Some of the fixes should be easy to achieve - service improvements such as training bus drivers to give people time to sit down. Others, such as eliminating ageist prejudice and helping older people to participate as fully as possible in urban life are goals that whole communities need to work on together.