Huddle – Designing more elder friendly public spaces

Huddle – Designing more elder friendly public spaces

PREMISEPopulation Ageing- a phenomenon that was initially faced by the developed countries but the developing nations are catching up soon. The number of senior citizens (60 years and above) is estimated to increase from 901 million in 2015 to 1.4 billion in 2030 and 2.1 billion in 2050.On the other hand, urbanisation has been rapidly increasing leaving 55% of the total population now living in cities and is said to increase up to 68% over the coming decades as per the UN.As people grow older, depression and loneliness are regarded as the major problems that they face. This is a resultant of either living alone or lack of close family ties and reduced connection with their culture of origin. This leads to making them unable to participate in community activities. With advancing age, it is inevitable that people lose connection with their friendship networks. It also becomes more difficult to initiate new friendships and thus belong to new networks.This eventually leads to poor quality of life among the elderly.CHALLENGELoneliness and depression are common problems seen in the old age group. With the progressing age, it becomes more difficult to interact with new people and to make new connections. Moreover, there is also a lack of elderly-friendly public spaces.In such a scenario, how can architecture be used as a tool to propose solutions to cater to the issues of isolation at an old age? How can public places become more inviting and accessible to the percentage of the population that will be turning over 60 in the future? Being old, one priceless thing they possess is their experience. How can architecture create spaces that can increase the interaction of the elderly with the youth or children to share their experience?