Urban design for longevity
Introduction
Environmental gerontology is an area of knowledge of gerontology that aims to understand, analyze, modify and optimize the relationship between the aging person and their physical-social environment, from interdisciplinary perspectives and approaches, covering different disciplines such as psychogerontology), geography of aging, urban planning, architecture and accessible design, gerontodesign, social policy, social work, sociology and other related sciences.
In the 1930s in (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany), the first studies on Social and Behavioral Gerontology began to emerge, associated with deterministic explanations of the relationship between aging and its environment based on genetic and biological parameters.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the theories of different researchers, such as Kurt Lewin (life space model as a function of the person and their environment), and, mainly, M. Powell Lawton (1923-2001) (ecological adaptation model), based on the influence of interactions between the elderly person and their environment (adaptation-environmental pressure), confirm the importance of the physical-social environment (objective and subjective) in the understanding of population aging and in the possibility of improving the quality of life in old age.
Environmental gerontology strives to understand the socio-spatial implications of aging and its complex relationship with the environment, from analysis at different scales: micro scales (housing and family) and macro scales (neighborhood, city, region), to enable social and environmental policies that enable successful aging. Among the main contributions of the discipline are the contributions to aging in the home (Aging in place"), since older people prefer to age in their immediate environment (the home), where aspects such as spatial experience and attachment to place are important to understand this process.
Researchers
Among the examples of Environmental Gerontology, as an interdisciplinary discipline, important researchers stand out, such as the psychologist and gerontologist M. Powell Lawton (1923-2001) and the architect and gerontologist Paul Gordon Windley PhD. (1941-2007). The latter was one of the pioneers of this field, who demonstrated that good architectural design can foster the independence and competence of older people with their environment. Dr. Windley was interested in knowing the implications of the built environment on aging, highlighting the importance of promoting an integrative built design. Between the late 1970s and 1980s PG. Windley led an interdisciplinary team of architects and psychologists to examine how the physical and social characteristics of small rural Kansas towns affected the quality of life of seniors. Also, in the field of architecture, experts stand out, such as Leon A. Pastalan") and Benyamin Schwarz"), in the study of the design of residential environments and public spaces to promote aging in place.