The Importance of Intergenerational Community Placemaking

This blog post is republished with permission. It has been edited for length.

Last month I celebrated my 73rd birthday. Like many members of the baby boom generation, I've always liked to believe that I'm younger than I am, but as I've grown older, I've learned to accept aging as the natural progression in life.

I've also come to understand the importance of embracing all generations in the communities we plan and the spaces we design for people — something that has not always (or even typically) happened in practice.

The Aging U.S. Population: Trends and Implications

The U.S. population is aging, with the median age rising from 30.2 years in 1950 to 38.3 years in 2020. By 2034, older adults will outnumber children under 18; by 2060, nearly one in four Americans will be 65 or older. The number of Americans 85 and older will triple, and the nation will gain half a million centenarians. We are shifting from a youth-dependent to an age-dependent population.

We've also heard about the negative consequences of an aging population: spiraling healthcare costs, underfunded pension systems, and fewer younger workers supporting more retirees, to name a few major ones.

These consequences are encapsulated in the ageist term "silver tsunami." But what if we were to view an aging population not as a negative, but as an opportunity to engage older adults, their experience, and their resources in creating better communities for people of all ages? This is where intergenerational community placemaking comes in.

Intergenerational Community Planning, a Planning Advisory Service (PAS) report published by the American Planning Association, defines "intergenerational community or site" as one "that not only meets the needs and interests of multiple age groups but provides space and opportunity for them to engage one another, whether through recreation, education, or community planning and exploration activities."

Building on this definition, intergenerational community placemaking is the creation of settings that provide opportunities for people of all ages to connect, at scales ranging from individual buildings or sites to neighborhoods, communities, and beyond.

The Benefits of Intergenerational Placemaking

Intergenerational community placemaking should be designed to create inclusive, welcoming spaces that encourage spontaneous interaction between different age groups. It should also include programs and activities that intentionally bring generations together, particularly in planning and design processes. The PAS report highlights the importance of interactions between those 18 and younger, those 65 and older, and their caregivers. Given that children and older adults, especially in communities of color, are most affected by poverty, food insecurity, and natural disasters, this approach has important equity implications.

Intergenerational Community Planning, a PAS Report from APA.

Despite its benefits, intergenerational community placemaking is more the exception than the rule in planning and design practice. To test this, I asked ChatGPT to identify references to "intergenerational" in community comprehensive plans. It cited eight common themes: age-friendly infrastructure, intergenerational programs, inclusive housing, and social services. However, only intergenerational programs directly mentioned the term.

I then asked ChatGPT to identify specific plans using the term "intergenerational." It cited six large-city comprehensive plans. Only one, Minneapolis 2040, referenced intergenerational policies, specifically through action steps like "intergenerational mentoring" and "intergenerational engagement." The other plans contained policies related to the eight themes, which support an intergenerational approach but do not explicitly propose one. This experience not only highlighted the limitations of ChatGPT as a research tool but also confirmed my hypothesis about comprehensive planning practice.

Our Future Lancaster, the comprehensive plan for the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, stands out as an exception to the trend. In December 2021, the city completed an "Age-Friendly City Action Plan" that identified priorities for integration into a new comprehensive plan, which was under development at the time. Led by Chris Kennedy of Age2Age Consulting, Lancaster's Age-Friendly Advisory Committee played an active role in shaping the comprehensive planning process.

Adopted in October 2023, Our Future Lancaster notes that "Lancaster viewed the age-friendly planning process as a chance to bring people of all ages together to make our neighborhoods more responsive to the needs of every generation...Cross-cutting intergenerational perspectives were included in each of the 11 policy area study sessions. Applying this lens...ensures that our community will be a good place for everyone throughout their lives." Policy and action examples include the development of age-friendly/intergenerational housing, Vision Zero traffic safety improvements, and an accessible, intergenerational parks system.

Recommendations for Integrating Intergenerational Placemaking

How can intergenerational placemaking become a more explicit focus of community planning and design? I have two simple recommendations.

1. As demonstrated in Our Future Lancaster, incorporate an intergenerational lens to all activities, from community visioning and goal setting through plan/design development and implementation. The Intergenerational Community Planning PAS Report identifies key elements of the intergenerational community planning process, including making the case for intergenerational planning, engaging both young and old, and analyzing age-specific community conditions and resources.
2. Break down silos and promote collaboration across disciplines. Architects, landscape architects, and civil engineers design the physical environment, while professionals in fields such as social services, public health, and parks and recreation develop and manage programs that bring generations together. Planners are well-positioned to unite these professions to intentionally create intergenerational communities.

Unlike indigenous and traditional cultures that value extended family and intergenerational relationships, present-day society often isolates or segregates groups outside the conventional nuclear family. Children and older adults, in particular, often find themselves marginalized by contemporary societal structures.

The nonprofit organization 8 80 Cities promotes the idea that if cities work for both 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds, they will benefit everyone. Intergenerational community placemaking goes one step further - bringing people together across generations is essential to improving community health, happiness, and well-being.

Top image: E+ kali9