What the Berlin Wall can teach us about urban development

an article published in CentrePiece (Spring 2019)

What makes cities thrive?

CEP researchers consider what can be learned from the division and reunification of Berlin, in work for which they were awarded the prestigious Frisch Medal in 2018. The city’s history provides a unique setting in which to investigate how connectivity between neighbourhoods influences the urban economy and residents’ quality of life.

Full text (PDF 2pp)

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Ageing in urban environments: Developing ‘age-friendly’ cities

an article by Tine Buffel (Free University of Brussels, Belgium), Chris Phillipson (Keele University) and Thomas scharf (National University of Ireland, Galway) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 32 Number 4 (November 2012)

Abstract

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations and needs of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy.

This article aims to provide a critical perspective on what has been termed ‘age-friendly cities’ by shifting the focus from questions such as ‘What is an ideal city for older people?’ to the question of ‘How age-friendly are cities?’

This approach, it is argued, might be more suited to deal with the complexities of cities as sites of interlocking and conflicting commercial, social, and political interests.

This theme is developed by examining:

• first, the main factors driving the age-friendly debate;
• second, constraints and opportunities for older people living in urban environments;
• third, options for a critical social policy; and,
• fourth, examples of involving older people in the development of age-friendly environments.

The article concludes with a brief summary of current tensions and contradictions in the age-friendly debate.

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