Challenges for Older Citizens to Get Around a Planned City

Hartmut Günther (University of Brasília)
Ingrid Luiza Neto (UDF)
Caroline Machado da Silva (Masters Student)
Isolda Günther (University of Brasilia)
Lucas Heike Matsunaga (University of Brasilia)

In recent years, Brazil has been facing the growth of the elderly population. Autonomy and independence to perform daily activities are significant factors contributing to promote health and quality of life of the older people. Thus, it is important to investigate possibilities and options that the elderly have when trying to negotiate their ways to get around a city. As a planned city, Brasília presents distinct challenges for older citizens. The fourdimensions of rational urban design, as postulated in the 1943 Charter of Athens – housing, work, leisure and circulation – did not really consider the elderly, which in 1960 made up 6.5% of the Brazilian population, as contrasted to 8.5% in 2018 and, more specifically, 12.8% of the inhabitants of Brasília.This study aims to respond the following four questions: (1) How do the elderly residents of Brasília deal with the configurations of a city that did not appear to prioritize the needs of the pedestrian population, much less of the elderly? (2) How do they face the particular mobility (non-)affordances of the city? (3) What suggestions could be offered? (4) What are some of the methodological approaches to contribute to the quality of life of this particular population?Providing a supportive urban environment for the elderly is ever more important, given the increase in the urban population and the increase in the over 60 population. Studying mobility of older citizens, especially healthy urban mobility in a planned city, provides paradigmatic information for any number of urban environments, not only the specific one being considered in this paper. We present results from a multi-method study: (a) a face-to-face survey of 171 respondents over 60 years of age from three neighbourhoods in Brasília dealing with questions of walkability, connectedness, quality of life and health indicators; (b) in-depth interviews and go-along approach with a selected number of respondents; and (c) community feedback workshops with research participants. This approach should provide the basis for innovative proposals, as it directly involves the community in the elaboration of potential solutions. Preliminary results suggest that the home range diminishes with age.From a perspective of healthy urban mobility, solutions must focus on since it corroborates with the falls that can be fatal to elderly: The elderly report having difficulties in locomotion by foot, since the infrastructure of the sidewalks and distance to services make active mobility problematic. However, from a perspective of healthy urban mobility, solutions must focus on providing just such possibilities. Thus, we suggest: a) the development of measures to stimulate community involvement and b) the environmental adaptations, considering the principles of universal design. The research presented here is part of a larger project involving research in several other cities, both planned and traditional. The overall research team consists of psychologists, architects, an epidemiologist and urban planners, providing a more comprehensive perspective for the problem at hand.