Longevity Cities

Because We'll All Be Urban Soon

The City of Longevity Conference hosted by Newcastle

This post first appeared on FORBES. It’s republished here for paid elderberries subscribers.

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The first City of Longevity Conference took place in Newcastle, UK in July. The city, tucked into England’s northeast, has long been a hub of medical advances. This conference aims to inaugurate a new slant on innovation: empowering cities to become proactive healthy ageing hubs. The idea is to graduate from a system organised around caring for the sick to becoming longevity ready – preventively prepared for the arrival of the second billion people 60+. Naturally inter-generational and increasingly home to the vast majority of the world’s population, cities are the perfect setting to normalise intelligent ageing across life’s ages and stages.

Nic Palmarini, Director, NICA

Central to the effort is the UK Innovation Centre on Ageing (NICA), led by Nic Palmarini and Lynne Corner. Their conference brought together mayors, urban planners, public and private sector players, and academics from cities across the world – to co-create the City of Longevity. Here’s a summary of what was discussed.

The Call and The Context

There are now five generations co-existing on the planet. But the balance between them is shifting – fast. From a short century ago when there were a small number of older people to many young ones, we are now in an era of generational balance, with the number of old becoming as numerous – sometimes more – than the young. The billion people currently over 60 in the world will double to over 2 billion by 2050. Most of them will live in cities.

Preparing for this second billion requires adapting at speed. How to accelerate both innovation and application? By designing tools and approaches that multiply and combine existing efforts and understanding. Adapting in real time to reality by constantly collecting and understanding data. Working with people as engaged citizens. And harnessing cities as full partners. That’s what the City of Longevity initiative hopes to do.