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Monday, October 1, 2007

City of dreams: Build it and seniors — lots of ‘em — will come

By Bob Deans | Monday, October 1, 2007, 10:39 AM

In a world often roiled by division and debate, there’s one thing on which folks most everywhere agree: getting old’s a pain.

“Cross lights are made for Olympic runners,” laments an over-60 senior in Halifax, Canada.

“You get tired,” pointed out another from Melville, Australia, “and need to sit down.”

“I can get on the bus,” explained another from Saanich, Canada, “but the minute the man takes off the bus rocks and I’m flat on my face.”

Those are a few of the responses the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/ published in a report http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr53/en/index.html Monday about what works and doesn’t work for the aged in cities.

The WHO based its report on conversations with 1,485 seniors and 765 caregivers in 158 focus groups in 33 cities around the world.

What makes for a good city for the elderly?

Public gardens with quiet benches, public toilets and non-slip pavement.

Buildings with doorways wide enough for wheelchairs.

Safe and affordable housing, police patrols, good public transportation and well-lit streets.

Volunteer opportunities, the chance for social interaction and civic participation and, of course, affordable health care.

And, above all, separate spaces for those skateboarders and bikers that go whizzing past at breakneck speed.

People over the age of 60 make up 11 percent of the population, worldwide: that level’s on track to double by 2050, when, for the first time in human history, seniors will outnumber children 14 and under.

Portland, Oregon, was the only U.S. city where the WHO spoke with seniors. The survey looked at 32 other cities around the world, from Amman, Jordan to Udine, Italy.

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