Solidarity between Generations - Designing Age-Friendly

Abstract

In the global political context, a new voice is making itself heard -the third age voice, highlighting the necessity of changing the common perception related to actual aspirations and needs of this category of age. The concern in this direction has been materialized with the recommendation, made by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), on an alternative policy framework. This new approach is founded on the concept of active ageing and proposes a breach between age and dependency. A healthy society must offer the same level of freedom and control of everyday life, to all its members. Therefore, barriers must be overcome, both regarding the institutional, the infrastructure and last but not least, the educational ones. Architecture has the task of providing a built environment that can sustain this philosophy of life. But a legitimate question arises: what kind of space is suitable for this goal? So far, Romanian authorities have not sufficiently analysed the problem of decreasing negative consequences of aging process and even less of an active, healthy ageing. Sociological studies carried out in recent years in our country, on samples of relevant age in this matter, concluded that the elderly shows an increased interest in terms of social reintegration. In order to encourage a national strategy in this direction, this article briefly reviews the major aspects of current civic perception of what it means to be older. Conclusions are then drawn toward overcoming the general level of superficial thinking, and taking into account the new profile of the senior citizens.