What potential economic impacts have been projected if more intergenerational living were to be adopted at scale across the EU?

Although there is no common methodology used across the EU to assess the potential economic benefits of intergenerational living, expected savings through pooling of publicly funded social programmes targeting different age groups, and opportunities for local job creation, have been used by policy makers in various EU countries for some decades already, to build the case for innovative intergenerational social housing and urban planning.

Both urban and rural municipalities developed intergenerational and multicultural living spaces to attract new residents and revitalise their town centre. More recently a new dimension has been added to the concept of intergenerational living to reduce the impact of climate change on local populations and the environment. The aim of such public policies is now to build intergenerational living spaces which are both socially and environmentally sustainable, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Such projects are found in countries with strong social housing policies.

In many EU countries private, non-for-profit initiatives have also been developed to create better adapted living spaces for specific groups of various ages. Such projects are usually based on empowering the target groups to get socially involved with their local community and to provide support to each other. These cross-generational collaborative living spaces often accommodate older persons, students, lone parent families and/or migrant people who cannot find affordable housing. Their economic model is not to make profit, but to reach-out to them. They may offer short or long term intergenerational living spaces and help beneficiaries access the social services they are entitled to, find a job/occupational training or a daycare centre for their child, etc. Usually, there are shared spaces and activities organised to enable tenants to mix and develop a sense of belonging to a supportive community. Such initiatives often contribute to creating a strong cohesion between tenants and other people at risk of social exclusion in the neighbourhood. Such projects are more common in countries where non-for-profit organisations play a major role in fulfilling unmet housing and social needs at local level. 

In Europe you can also find public-private partnerships focussing on sustainable intergenerational living which seek to tackle the housing shortage and discrimination faced by some students, workers with broken careers, ethnic minorities, and also to fight isolation and social exclusion among older people. Their economic model is usually based on a combination of savings on social services for the public authority, and profit-making for the private partner through procurement of public services and/or income from rent paid by tenants, or additional services they provide to tenants. 

Finally, in some European countries, to meet consumers’ demand, private profit-making organisations have invested in real estate projects creating intergenerational living spaces where serviced flats are built next to apartment blocks, designed for people of all ages and close to shops, supermarkets, cafés and restaurants, etc. These projects usually target the better-off and do not focus on fostering intergenerational living per se, as do the public and non-for-profit projects mentioned above. Different age groups live next to each other but do not necessarily interact with each other. These new real estate projects seek to attract people who like the convenience of living close to services they need for their everyday life and good public transport. Such projects can be found mainly in wealthy urban/suburban areas. Their business model is to make a profit to serve their shareholders.

How can urban planning and community design play a role in ensuring intergenerational integration can become more mainstream?

Many local initiatives on intergenerational integration have been launched in Europe in previous decades, but their impact has been limited to areas where competencies lie with local authorities. For intergenerational integration to be mainstream in all relevant sectors, policy makers at national and EU levels need to be convinced that they have a crucial role to play by ensuring that policies support local authorities in their aim to develop intergenerational urban planning and community design. 

In 2008, AGE Platform Europe started to promote WHO Age-Friendly Cities and Communities methodology within EU institutions, promoting ‘age-friendly’, meaning ‘friendly for all ages’, and adding intergenerational solidarity to the WHO concept. This new approach is based on the co-production model of local urban planning and community design with representatives of the targeted groups: young and older people, families with children, women’s groups, migrants’ associations, etc. It involves not only local stakeholders but also national and EU stakeholders. 

In 2012, the EU declared the EU Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational solidarity. This gave a big boost to national programmes supporting local communities initiatives which aim to recreate the social fabric between generations and social groups.

Are there any examples from EU nations of intergenerational housing initiatives, programs or amenities that have successfully reduced loneliness and created a greater sense of connection amongst multiple age groups?

Today across the EU, there are many projects on intergenerational living spaces which were launched thanks to funding from EU, national or regional programmes targeting urban or rural innovative actions.

Example of a EU-funded intergenerational housing project: 
The CALICO co-housing project was launched in 2021 in Belgium by Bruxelles-Logement (the local authority responsible for housing policies), with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This housing project is divided into three living spaces: the first one is dedicated to new forms of intergenerational living based on solidarity, where young and older tenants live together and support each other. The second living space is dedicated to a group of female activists, urban planners, architects, sociologists and life-long-learning trainers, and seeks to help women of all ages access adequate housing. The third living space aimed at facilitating access to home owning for persons with low income who struggle to find decent housing at an affordable price. 
Example of a national programme supporting intergenerational housing; 

In 2006, the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth launched a programme to support the development of local multigenerational houses, where social services, targeting different population groups of various ages, could be pooled and users could share common places to mix and interact. In 2012, with EU funding, the programme was extended to create several hundred new multigenerational houses. Today there are multigenerational houses in almost all German districts and municipalities. These public multigenerational living spaces are adapted to the local population needs and are based on the new concept of co-production of social solutions, developed for and with the target groups in an inclusive approach, a place to meet, exchange, and do things together.
Example of a local authority initiative 

This example comes from the city of Helsinborg, Sweden, where the housing company owned by the city has launched a project of intergenerational living spaces at Fredriksdal: The SällBo project is offering a new approach to shared accommodation between different age groups. Half of the apartments are reserved for older people aged 65 and over and the rest are open to young adults aged 18 to 25, including people who have recently been granted a residence permit in Sweden. The aim is to foster integration and enable generations and cultures to meet, so social life is at the core of the SällBo project. In addition to their apartment, tenants have access to common areas both indoors and outdoors, with plenty of space for leisure and socialising between tenants of both age groups.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes and aspirations for the future of ageing advocacy, and how do you envision your role in shaping positive change for older adults in the years to come?

I can’t imagine a future where generations would be living in separate areas and would have no opportunities to mix with people of other ages and cultures. While the need for accessible housing and urban space will increase as Europe’s population ages, I don’t think that developing living spaces which segregate age groups will become the way forward. Most older persons and younger groups wish to live in safe and accessible housing, intergenerational living spaces and urban facilities where young children, persons with mobility issues, pregnant mothers, older persons, and the rest of the population are welcome!