Built to last a lifetime

Volunteers from the Kilburn Older Voices Exchange (KOVE) film in their neighbourhood

A new report examines our success to date in creating lifetime neighbourhoods. Mark Bevan and Karen Croucher explore some of the challenges involved in ensuring the needs of all ages are met

In the last two decades much consideration has been given to the implications of the demographic shift and the changes that need to be made to address both the challenges and opportunities of an ageing society.

There has also been a greater focus on how to ensure that as we grow older we can maintain our independence, enjoy a good quality of life and take an active role in our communities.

For most people the idea of independence is closely associated with the idea of home. As we grow older we are more likely to spend more time at home, and where we live is an important determinant of our wellbeing. However, it is increasingly recognised that it is not just our homes, but also the neighbourhoods in which we live that have a significant role in keeping us well and independent as we grow older.

Recognising the importance of neighbourhood as a determinant of wellbeing in later life and its crucial role in supporting older people’s independence, the DCLG commissioned the Centre for Housing Policy at York University to explore and develop the idea of a ‘lifetime neighbourhood’ and search out and present examples of how the idea has been taken forward in different parts of the country.

The report Lifetime neighbourhoods was published this month and is intended to be a resource for the voluntary sector, community groups, local councils and policymakers as they work towards designing and reshaping neighbourhoods to address the long-term implications of an older population. Addressing this challenge can be encapsulated in the following questions:

• How well does our neighbourhood work as a place to live?
• How far does it meet the needs of all the people who live here?
• How well do we think our neighbourhood will work when there is a larger number of older people in the future?

WHAT IS A LIFETIME NEIGHBOURHOOD?
Neighbourhoods are unique places and it is not possible or desirable to be prescriptive about the specific features that should be developed in all areas. Instead, there are a number of components and principles that underpin the concept, which can be used as a starting point to address the specific needs and issues that will be most relevant to individual localities in the coming decades. The main components that make up a lifetime neighbourhood include:

• Supporting residents to develop lifetime neighbourhoods – especially resident empowerment
• Access
• Services and amenities
• Built and natural environments
• Social networks/wellbeing
• Housing

How lifetime neighbourhoods are achieved is just as important as what is done to bring about necessary changes. There are also two important principles that have guided our report. The first relates to resident empowerment. Residents stand at the centre of achieving change within the areas in which they live. This involves public sector, private sector, voluntary and community organisations working in such a way that residents of any age are enabled to:

• set out their needs and concerns
• identify priorities for action within their own areas
• work towards bringing about change and delivery themselves
• make the case for the range of services that they want others to deliver into their communities.

The second principle is that of inclusion: making neighbourhoods work well for people of any age, while recognising that an increasing proportion of the population will be older. A lot of the focus has necessarily been on creating environments that embrace the needs of older people, because of the ageing demographic. However, it is also necessary to ensure the notion of lifetime neighbourhoods does not lose sight of the principle that it is inclusive of all ages. Any analysis of neighbourhood design needs to take into account people’s needs throughout the life course – or lifespan.

EXISTING APPROACHES
There are already a number of examples around the country of approaches that residents have taken to help shape the ‘age friendliness’ of their neighbourhoods. A popular approach has been the use of neighbourhood or street audits. These audits sometimes focus on specific issues, and the work undertaken by the Kilburn Older Voices Exchange is a good example of this approach. They have used techniques to explore issues such as accessible shopping, toilet facilities, safety and fear of crime (see case study).

Other approaches have taken a wider look at their neighbourhoods. The Eastleigh Southern Older People’s Forum has drawn upon the World Health Organisation definition of ‘age friendly communities’ as well as work by the Audit Commission. A further good example is the ongoing work in Newcastle by the Newcastle Elders Council.
While these examples show how the lifetime neighbourhoods agenda is currently being taken forward in urban areas, it is in rural areas that populations are ageing most rapidly, and where more immediate action is required.

The potential of community-led planning approaches has been highlighted by Action for Communities in Rural England as a mechanism for harnessing community-led action to prioritise and deliver services within their own neighbourhoods in partnership with wider stakeholders such as local authorities.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
There remain real challenges for residents and practitioners who aim to develop lifetime neighbourhoods. These include overcoming limited awareness of the implications of demographic change, as well as the potential for neighbourhood design and service delivery to be more inclusive, and severe resource constraints to taking this agenda forwards.

Within this context, neighbourhood planning and the Community Right to Build may open up the potential for the development of infrastructure and designs that would help to support lifetime neighbourhood objectives.

However, for this to work, such approaches will need to take into account not just current needs, but also the long-term planning that will be necessary to address the large-scale changes that may need to take place in order to respond to the scale of demographic change that is projected to develop into the coming decades.

This article has set out a number of principles and themes for achieving lifetime neighbourhoods. The issues that residents currently face in terms of the design of their neighbourhoods and the range of services and facilities available vary hugely.
The priorities that communities decide upon in order to meet the challenges and opportunities of the coming decades will necessarily be diverse. Furthermore, there is already a huge range of individuals, groups and organisations undertaking projects that help to meet lifetime neighbourhood objectives.

We would urge communities, service providers and tiers of government to celebrate this diversity, and to encourage residents to articulate their visions and share ideas and innovation at a local level and more widely.

CASE STUDY: KILBURN OLDER VOICES EXCHANGE
The Safe and Happy Older People and Parents with Pushchairs project promotes accessibility within shops, is community-led and aims to address older people and parents’ concerns about accessibility in their everyday lives.

The main partners in the scheme are Kilburn Older Voices Exchange (Kove) and Caversham Elder Persons Organisation. It encourages shops and businesses to join the scheme by committing to improve accessibility for all. To be eligible for membership of the scheme shops and businesses must have: good, clear access for wheelchair users and other disabled people and parents with pushchairs; friendly and considerate staff willing to help people, including serving customers at the shop entrance; clear signs at appropriate levels; and a chair available for customers to rest.

The partners have produced a toolkit, which can be accessed at www.camden.gov.uk, to assist other groups or organisations wishing to promote better access to retail outlets in their own neighbourhoods.

Working in partnership with the Kilburn Safer Neighbourhood Team and Camden Crime Prevention, Kove has also produced a DVD on crime prevention. The film features the voices of local older people sharing their concerns about crime but also giving their own tips about being vigilant and keeping safe. Filming involved volunteers and more than 40 older people from different community groups including Somali and African Caribbean elders. The aim is to reduce the danger of some older people becoming isolated in their homes due to fear of crime, and help build the confidence of vulnerable older people, as well as helping to keep people safer.

Kove also runs an outreach programme through which it visits local groups of older people to raise the awareness about crime prevention and the need for community seating and toilets.

• Read the ezine version of this article here

• Mark Bevan and Karen Croucher are based at the Centre for Housing Policy at York University and can be contacted on 01904 321480 or mark.bevan@york.ac.uk and karen.croucher@york.ac.uk