Why we need an intergenerational approach to urban design and architecture

What do we picture when we imagine a life well lived? It’s a question that goes to the heart of what defines us as individuals, communities and as a nation.

For more than a generation our national narrative has taught us that the most important things to focus on are personal ambition, accumulation of wealth and,  perhaps above all else, home ownership. It is a vision of life that places the emphasis on hard work and self-interest, underpinned by the idea that the most responsible citizen is the self-sufficient one.

It is also, of course, largely a myth. Individual happiness and success are rarely fostered in total isolation.

Rather, they are dependent on a web of social interactions, support and a wider framework of mutually respected norms and behaviours. Indeed, for many of us, personal happiness is inseparable from the wellbeing of those around us – not just family and friends, but our wider communities.

As a highly social species, whose success is predicated on an almost unrivalled ability to collaborate, our sense of wellbeing is often dependent on the sense of connection we have to the places we inhabit

It is arguably one of the reasons that the world is urbanising at such a rapid pace, with two-thirds of the global population expected to live in towns and cities by 2050. As a highly social species, whose success is predicated on an almost unrivalled ability to collaborate, our sense of wellbeing is often dependent on the sense of connection we have to the places we inhabit, and the people we live alongside. We crave interaction, and cities seem to be the ideal incubators for many of our innate needs.

>> Also read: Boomers to Zoomers campaign

>> Also read: Boomers to Zoomers: Designing for the Generations

Many architects and urbanists know all of this inherently, and a key driver behind their belief in the importance of the built environment is their understanding of how space and place are inextricably linked to wellbeing, and wider social cohesion. And yet, in the UK at least, the attention given to these issues at a political and economic level waxes and wanes – mostly the latter.

This lack of focus on the built environment is a perennial frustration to the architectural and urban design professions, precisely because they understand the impact their work could have on addressing many of the most pressing challenges in our communities, and at the national level. At a time when young people are struggling with the mental health fallout from the covid lockdowns, which highlighted massive disparities in access to greenspaces, and an ageing population is dealing with issues that can include isolation and loneliness, many designers understand that the built environment can help to deliver solutions, if only the political will was there to implement them.

It was just such a sense of frustration that led a group of interested parties, including the architect Dinah Bornat, to agitate for the parliamentary inquiry into children, young people and the built environment, which began hearing oral evidence in February. Alongside others, including Tim Gill, former director of the Children’s Play Council (now Play England), Bornat highlighted not just the failure of our development models to properly consider young people’s needs, but also the huge impact this has on educational and individual outcomes.

Dr William Bird, chief executive of Intelligent Health, began his oral evidence by saying: “Environment, and particularly green space, has a major effect on the development of children’s brains and their health.”

Another witness, Helen Dodd, professor of child psychology at Exeter Medical School, said that “the more time children spend playing outside adventurously, where they get the opportunity to explore risks, the better their mental health is in terms of anxiety and depression”.

By prioritising the needs of young people in design and policy, we can also deliver improved homes and public realm that benefits people throughout their lives

The focus on young people is of course only one part of a much bigger picture, which is about addressing the intergenerational design needs of society as a whole. As many people are increasingly recognising, by prioritising the needs of young people in design and policy, we can also deliver improved homes and public realm that benefits people throughout their lives.

From adults simply struggling to find a place to live, to parents, carers and those in later life, thinking about our built environment from an intergenerational perspective is critical to delivering places that sustain communities in all their complexity.

There is a growing realisation that current models of development and housing delivery are failing to address some of our most urgent needs. A range of voices, not just within the design professions, but across industry and society, understand that joined-up thinking and policy could deliver places that work better to support the fulfilling, interconnected lives that define a healthy society.

This is why BD is this month launching its Boomers to Zoomers: Designing for the Generations campaign. It will be looking at the underlying challenges facing different age groups, and how they are often interrelated.

We will be interviewing industry leaders, looking at best practice exemplars, and making the case for the prioritisation of intergenerational design needs within the planning and policy context.

We will also be looking at the education and skills sector, showing how the next generation of design professionals will play a critical role in solving these issues.

Please join us over the coming months as we explore and attempt to answer some of the most urgent questions that society is asking of architects and urban designers.