SUN-AGE: Supportive neighborhood and housing environments for ageing populations

Research problem and specific questions: Due to population ageing, there will be more people who live with functional limitations and many of them living alone.

This means extraordinary challenges for urban planners, housing developers and policy makers to develop sustainable strategies for neighborhood and housing environments that support older people, physically, socially and in terms of access to services, facilities and health care.

The specific research questions are:What is the geographic distribution and concentration of households with older people and how is it related to distribution and concentration of accessible housing and neighborhood environments?What is the geographic distribution and concentration of essential social, health care and commercial services and facilities and how is it related to distribution and concentration of accessible infrastructure?What are the needs and wishes of older people with regard to a housing and neighborhood environment that can support them to remain active and participating?What are the barriers for older people in the housing and neighborhood environment and which potential interventions that could effectively support older people to remain active and participating?What are the potential outcomes in terms of healthcare cost savings and extended capabilities of older people to remain active and participating in society by implementing certain interventions?Data and method: The project is an extension of a previously Forte funded project and will use housing and population data already collected.

Additional data on geographic indicators for vital services and infrastructure will be retrieved from open sources such as Statistics Sweden and in collaboration with municipalities.

New data on neighborhood accessibility and suitability for older people will be collected, as well as qualitative data on needs, wishes and policy suggestions.

Spatial, network and simulation modelling analysis will be applied.Societal relevance and utilisation: The project will support policy makers, urban planners, designers and housing developers to achieve the UN goals of sustainable cities and communities.Plan for project realization: The project will build on established collaborations with Swedish municipalities and will be structured in six work packages over three years.

The interdisciplinary research team will include expertise in gerontology, public health, epidemiology, health economics and industrial design.