Big city havens for aging population
Most people generally imagine older citizens to be living in smaller, more rural areas, but a new study shows that big cities are increasingly harbouring retirement communities. Professor Victor G. Rodwin studied neighbourhoods in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo and found many places where almost 20 percent of the population is 65 years or older. “The trends point to one obvious conclusion — so obvious that most people don’t talk about it — and it’s that cities will be where older people live. We typically talk about population aging as if it doesn’t matter where you live.” But it does matter, says Rodwin, “and not just what city, but what neighborhood.”
Moreover, senior living in cities are healthier than their counterparts outside the metropolises and have a longer life expectancy. The neighbourhoods where they live are also wealthier and their productivity, even by the crude measure of labor force participation, is higher than stereotypes suggest. Some businesses are also aware of the trend and reorganizing their businesses practices to cater to an older clientele. Kaisers, a supermarket in Berlin, is catering to just one of these retirement pockets. It provides shoppers, among other things, with carts they can sit on, magnifying glasses suspended from ceilings to allow for fine-print reading and steps to reach the higher shelves.
