602: It’s About the People…: Perspectives on the Planning and Design of Public Spaces Across the Life Spectrum

October 06, 2016

11:45am - 12:45pm

Whether and to what extent older residents are satisfied with a community’s public spaces, and how to assess and design that infrastructure, are questions of growing interest to planning professionals and policy makers.  In part, this interest is a recent and perhaps belated acknowledgement of the ‘senior surge’ that is occurring in both urban and rural communities.  It is also a reflection of the lack of consistent theoretical frameworks and practical guidance in urban planning regarding the definition, components of or strategies for designing communities that are conducive to healthy and independent aging.  While the age-friendly framework developed by the World Health Organization is an important and necessary first step towards planning age-friendly communities, planning professionals require more than globally generalized frameworks to design public spaces that meet the particular needs of local residents across the life spectrum.

Drawing on academic and professional consulting work with urban and rural communities in southern Ontario, symposium participants will explore through active discussion and design exercises:

• Age-friendly concepts that are relevant to public space design – e.g. environmental press, aging in community, inclusive design, etc.
• Changing perceptions and requirements of public space throughout the life course.
• Complementary design frameworks and strategies that exist beyond the age-friendly paradigm.

Speakers