Città a misura di anziano: approccio esigenziale-prestazionale per un progetto inclusivo = An age-friendly city: a requirement-performance approach for an inclusive design

In Europe, thanks to lifestyle improvement and medical progress, life has lengthened; then, older people characterize settlements. Today, the “elder” stereotype has to be overcome since seniors tend to maintain their role of active citizens, thanks to the “improvement of life quality in ageing”; WHO defines this phenomenon “active ageing”. Older people indeed represent for society a resource, for voluntary work, intergenerational exchange and family support. In previous EU research programs, the target to keep older people mobile, in order to reduce both homecare costs and passiveness, possibly affecting health and leading to isolation, was pursued as it is in the International Plan of Action on Ageing. The interaction between dwellings, district and cities entails that urban spaces for social relations, paths to everyday facilities and transport means to faraway services are agreeable also to older population. An age-friendly city is an inclusive environment apt to meet inhabitants’ needs and expectations. Unluckily often both at technical and institutional level, older people’s actual problems are not known or considered. This abstract refers to research works both already carried out, with European funding, and in progress, having as goal the improvement of life quality by sustainable urban design and mobility. They are characterized by a requirement-performance approach, peculiar of Architectural Technology, and a gender one oriented towards people care, with the aim to highlight problems and devise solutions apt to improve accessibility, safety/security, environmental comfort and autonomy, in each phase of ageing and mobility conditions (PRM), for a more liveable and lively city. Both approaches aim to achieve a model of inclusive and user oriented city. It is important then to involve all users categories in all design phases, for considering the viewpoint of both senior citizens and experts, since often their quality assessment does not overlap.