Aging + Place: Designing Housing & Communities for Aging Populations

Location: Harvard Graduate School of Design | 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA Free & open to the public

Watch the Full Event on YouTube 

With the wave of baby boomers reaching retirement age, America’s older population is in the midst of unprecedented growth. Ensuring that older adults have the housing they need to enjoy high-quality, independent, and financially secure lives has thus taken on new urgency – for individuals and their families, for communities, and for the nation as a whole. And the US is not alone: older populations are rapidly expanding around the world. Innovative housing designs and age-friendly public infrastructure are increasingly needed to support those aging in their communities.

In conjunction with the release of our new report, Housing America's Older Adults, join us as we host a half-day event to discuss opportunities in architecture, planning, and policy to enhance older adults’ well-being through affordable, accessible, well-connected housing, as well as through models of long-term care that support aging in place.

AGENDA

1:00

 

Piper Auditorium
WELCOME                                                                                                                                                      
Ann Forsyth, Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design  

1:15
 

PRESENTATION: HOUSING AMERICA’S OLDER ADULTS (DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES)
Christopher E. Herbert, Acting Managing Director, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies

1:45

 

DESIGNING AGE-FRIENDLY HOMES & COMMUNITIES: THE ROLE OF INNOVATIVE DESIGN
Ann Forsyth, Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design (Moderator)
Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director, Institute for Human Centered Design
J. David Hoglund, Principal & Executive Director, Perkins Eastman  (DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES)
Amy Schectman, President & CEO, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly
Katie Swenson, VP, National Design Initiatives, Enterprise Community Partners 

3:00

BREAK

3:15

 

BUILDING AGE-FRIENDLY CITIES: THE ROLE OF POLICY & PLANNING
Michael E. Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts (Moderator)
Sandra K. Albright, Former Massachusetts Undersecretary of Elder Affairs
Stuart Dash, Director of Community Planning, City of Cambridge
Ruth Finkelstein, Advisory Committee, WHO Age-Friendly Cities and Communities;
Associate Director, Columbia Aging Center  (DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES)
Len Fishman, Director, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston

4:30
 

WRAP-UP
Christopher E. Herbert, Acting Managing Director, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies

4:40
 

Stubbins
WINE & CHEESE RECEPTION  

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