The Intergenerational City

The framing of cities in general and public spaces in particular as sites of social and generational diversity and heterogeneity has been placed under increasing pressure from a range of dynamics in recent decades. These forces have tended to produce a form of socio-spatial sorting – countering the mixity of individuals and groups of varying socio-economic, ethnic, political, or religious status placed in close spatial proximity. Prominent in the current debate is the problem of increased socio-economic inequity in societies, and the corresponding spatial nature of that sorting in urban settings. Less discussed, however, is the increase in spatial sorting of urban environments according to the category of age – representing a dynamic and uneven change in the age composition of various urban neighbourhoods and territories. This emerging age-sorted city according to several commentators represents a critical threat to the social and intergenerational solidarity within our societies – important preconditions for the maintenance of Nordic welfare systems.
Several different dynamics contribute toward spatial sorting according to age – a phenomenon taking place at different scales and in different contexts. From the tendency toward structural age-sorting based on the institutional and administrative frameworks of industrialized societies, which have obvious spatial implications; to more explicit spatial dynamics related to post-Fordist societal restructuring functioning at a range of different scales. These include: national/regional/urban scale sorting leading the general youthification of urban centres, and the ageing of the suburbs and provinces; and the tendency toward age sorting in the occupation of public space – as a function of the nearby residential populations, or as a result of an expansion of specific forms of ‘parochial space’. It is in the context of these tendencies that this report explores, at the level of age and intergenerational relations, the possibility for an intergenerational city – one aligned to broader concepts such the ‘inclusive city’ (Amin) / the tolerant city (Florida) / the open city (Sennett, Christiaanse) / the delirious city (Koolhaas) / the democratic city (Sennett) – in other words, the city as setting for a civic ‘throwntogetherness’ (Massey) of diverse age groups within the public spaces or public domain of our contemporary urban territories.
There are however relevant questions to ask that qualify or challenge such a universal and imprecise ambition, and such an under-researched phenomenon as the ‘intergenerational city’. Questions such as: Is intergenerational interaction universally positive or desired? How is it possible to define or qualify intergenerational interaction? What levels of intensity, duration or significance of intergenerational interaction are possible, relevant or desirable? What are the spatial and temporal contexts and conditions for intergenerational interaction? At what scales should intergenerational mixing take place? And importantly, to what extent can intergenerational social interaction be facilitated through architectural and urban design or planning? The conflicts and dilemmas these questions raise introduce important nuances to the discussion.
This is a research project in collaboration with TERROIR (lead) and Arki_Lab, and supported by funding from the Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs. It addresses urban test sites within the Copenhagen region, and will culminate in a report submitted to the Ministry.