ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

The age-friendly public city: initial reflections of a medium-size city as Bergamo

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 17 | PUBLIC SPACE

Speaker

Emanuele Garda (University of Bergamo)

Description

It is projected that between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years old will nearly double, rising from 12% to 22%. By 2030, 1 in 6 people worldwide will be aged 60 or older. Consequently, the number of people aged 60 years and over will increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the global population of people aged 60 years and older is projected to have doubled, reaching 2.1 billion. The number of people aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050, reaching 426 million (WHO, 2024).

The demographic trend of aging is a global phenomenon, but it manifests differently across countries. Italy is one of the "oldest" countries in the world, experiencing a much faster aging process compared to the rest of Europe. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in urbanized contexts (Cangialosi, Tronu, Vacca, 2023).

At the same time, in Italy, most people over 65 live in medium-sized cities, they continue to age at home (Aging in Place). The spatial and functional organization of urban areas significantly influences the daily lives of individuals, even in old age, and shapes health trajectories related to longevity. This influence is also evident in public spaces, which can either support or hinder daily practices and life in these spaces.

This paper aims to present the first phase of the research funded by the Next-Generation EU initiative, titled “CASA Aging in Cities-Medium: How Housing Conditions and Urban Spaces Can Reduce or Increase Opportunities for Longevity in Health”. The research is developing a multiscalar and interdisciplinary analytical model to explore the role of urban space in promoting healthy aging and neighborhood attachment among older populations. The study focuses on the analysis of an average Italian city, Bergamo, particularly through direct and indirect observation of several neighborhoods, which exhibit characteristics common to other medium-sized Italian cities, making them significant for developing an analytical model.

Beginning with the selection of neighborhoods in Bergamo, the research employs an interdisciplinary approach (urban planning, geography, aging psychology, statistics) that includes various interconnected activities:

• Physical analysis: Examining the system of public spaces in selected
  neighborhoods (types, usage, organization);
• Functional analysis: Investigating how populations use these spaces
  (through interviews and urban ethnography);
• Performance analysis: Addressing issues related to urban temperatures
  and challenges in these spaces (heatwaves, temperatures, LST);
• Decision analysis: Identifying strategies, actions, and projects
  planned for public spaces.

Through this integrated analysis, the aim is to define and understand the characteristics and role of public spaces, particularly in relation to their actual use and non-use due to specific issues (heatwaves, architectural barriers, etc.), within the broader context of neighborhoods with varying characteristics. The research also aims to highlight the diversity that exists across different neighborhoods within an apparently homogeneous medium-sized city, especially in terms of the presence and organization of public spaces.