Participation
Neighbourhood 2020
Tyneside
Throughout 2009
This September Northern Architecture has brought together a group of Tyneside residents in a series of workshops to explore how the design of the built environment impacts on the quality of life of older people resulting in a range of ideas and solutions relating to health, technology, navigation, access and street furniture.
The project, commissioned by the Northern Housing Consortium, looks at the reality of age-friendly neighbourhoods and what these would look like in the future. The group of Tyneside residents, that included members of the Elders Council, got a chance to work with Lowri Bond, Northern Architecture’s Projects Officer to take a fresh look at their current neighbourhoods and were then asked to give ideas of what was needed to make their neighbourhoods friendly for older people.
Lowri Bond said:
”As our population ages, it is becoming increasingly important that our neighbourhoods are places that older people feel safe, valued, visible and able to participate in community life. The built environment is a key factor in this as poor design decisions can make a vast difference to residents’ ability to get out and about. By working with people in this way, we are better able to understand the way elders feel about their neighbourhoods and if we communicate this well, we can raise awareness of these issues and hopefully bring about real change.”
The workshops involved much more than a simple consultations, the group worked with landscape architect Sue Jackson, an illustrator, photographers and architecture students to ensure that the important messages and themes that emerged from the group work, about the way we plan and design places, could be communicated to the industry and local authorities in the best and most visual way possible.
Mary Dodds, one of the participants in the workshops said,
“The workshop has let me look at the issues for older people in a very different light, in fact it’s helped me look at cities in a whole new light. I came away thinking of hundreds of ideas on how to improve our neighbourhood, from small details like pavement levels to big things like whole buildings.”
The report resulting from this project will be published by the Northern Housing Consortium in January as part of a conclusion to a larger project on age-friendly housing and neighbourhoods, which aims to foster a greater understanding of the ageing agenda. It will be circulated widely amongst NHC’s members and Northern Architecture’s audiences and partners.
To find out more about this project or to get involved please contact Lowri Bond at Northern Architecture on 0191 260 2191 or email Lowri@northernarchitecture.com
