There are currently 272,869 people living in the city of Gelsenkirchen, 74,561 of whom belong to the 60 and older age group, which corresponds to a share of 27.3% (as of 24 January 2025). The city of Gelsenkirchen has been aware for many years that the effects of demographic change towards an increasingly ageing urban society must be actively countered, so the Advisory Council for Senior Citizens has been representing the interests of older adults since 1975. Since then, work with senior citizens in the city of Gelsenkirchen has continued to develop.

A particular milestone in this regard was the development of the first master plan for work with senior citizens in 2005 by the newly created municipal coordination centre for older adult citizens and disabled persons. The established counselling and support structures were then set up in cooperation with almost all stakeholders involved in the interests of older adults, and the Generationennetz Gelsenkirchen e.V. was founded.

In Generationennetz Gelsenkirchen e.V., the city administration, welfare organisations, companies in the ageing sector and the housing industry, hospitals and church communities have joined forces and established structures that support older adults in participating in the city’s society and living as independently and self-determinedly as possible until the end of their lives. These enabling structures include – spread across the city – information centres and information centre branches, neighbourhood founders (SeNa) as low-threshold contact points and civically engaged local contact persons, other civically engaged people such as cultural guides, neighbourhood editors, walk mentors, technology ambassadors and the network of numerous ZWAR groups in Gelsenkirchen as well as the 50+ project workshop.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the participation-orientated process to create the new masterplan “Ageing well in Gelsenkirchen 2035” was started with the aim of taking into account the expected changes in work with older adults due to the changing needs and requirements of the upcoming age cohorts.