Being Age Friendly in the Public Realm
https://agefriendlyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Public-Realm-Guidelines.pdf
| As age friendly is a relatively new discipline the consistent application of age friendly design has yet to be fully embedded in the thinking of those various stakeholders responsible for the design and maintenance of our public realm. Now, as our knowledge and evidence base expands, planners, designers and developers have an opportunity to embrace, encourage and support age friendly policy and design, similar to the current level of engagement with the statutory design codes and policy documents. It will be easier to be age friendly, and universally designed if we consider the needs of older people from an initial planning perspective. This document aims to share the learnings arising from the Age Friendly Towns programme which supported a range of positive and practical changes to the public realm, informed by older people. When the public realm is attractive and accessible, older people, and indeed people of all ages, can enjoy more active and connected lives. Practical changes and age friendly led design thinking can help to create environments which provide enhanced access for all. |