Imagining a city where ageing is a pleasure

With Luciana Castro Gonçalves a research professor specialising in collaborative innovation at ESIEE Paris and Sylvie Dhalleine, former director of the Maison des Ainés et des Aidants Paris Ouest.

What kind of city do you want for the future? This is the question that four researchers in economics, urban planning and innovation management from the CAPACité (Citoyens Aînés Partenaires pour l'Autonomie dans la Cité - Senior Citizens Partners for Autonomy in the City) project put to elderly people. Over a year, these scientists worked with senior citizens to design the inclusive city of the future.

Aims : determine how they define “ageing well” and identify the forms and areas of mutual support that could promote their inclusion in cities.This fieldwork was carried out in collaboration with partners who are experts in the field of old age and have direct contact with the elderly: the Maison des Ainés et des Aidants de Paris Ouest, Ivry Sciences and Silver Innov. The results: some fifty proposals for better ways of getting around, finding fulfilment, learning, keeping fit, shopping, working and living in the city.   

Seniors, a population rarely consulted

As well as seeking to provide answers to the complex question of “ageing well” in the city, the CAPACité researchers wanted to understand whether and how design thinking - a method of collective and creative innovation - could encourage the participation of vulnerable groups in the process of co-constructing public policies. This question is far from trivial: in 2040, more than one in four people will be aged 65 or over. And yet, our elders are rarely invited to take part in looking for solutions.

Texts written by the Kogito agency after interviewing the co-sponsors.