CITTA 5th Annual Conference on Planning Research

“Planning and Ageing: Think, Act and Share Age-friendly Cities”– is the topic of the next conference organized by CITTA - Research Centre for Territory, Transport and Environment, held at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Oporto on the 18th May, 2012.

Theme of the conference

The populations of the world are changing. In some countries, the number of senior citizens will strongly increase. The number of older persons (60+) will double from the current 600 million to 1.2 billion by 2025, and again, to 2 billion by 2050.

Homes, communities and environments have not been designed with older people’s needs and capacities in mind.

The Conference will emphasize the importance of planning for the ageing, a topic that fits the adoption by The European Parliament of ‘2012’ as being the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. It will address the population change and new demands to communicate and serve the entire citizenry.

Policy makers, planners and other urban actors should approach new agendas (like WHO Age Friendly Cities Guidelines) to ensure the quality of the tools and interventions they use. Experts need to guide policies and processes to achieve better results in the planning of services and infrastructures not only for the elderly but also for all ages; changing patterns of behaviour, life-style and expectations of new generations of older people should be taking in account.

Keynote speakers

Henriette Vamberg - Gehl Architects

Henriette is a senior consultant and director at Gehl Architects and has been with the office since 2000. She is in charge of Gehl Cities, the division that handles Public Space/ Public Life studies, city stragies, public space plans, city consulting and method development on urban studies. She has a Master’s Degree of Architecture and Urban Design from the School of Architecture, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

Mike Biddulph - Cardiff University, UK

Mike Biddulph is Senior Lecturer in Urban Design, City and Regional Planning, in the School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University. He is also researcher at the Spatial Planning and City Environments (SPACE). He has been participating in several research projects and is author of several publications. His general research interests fall within the urban design discipline.

Taner Oc - The Barttlet School of Planning, University College of London, UK

Taner Oc is Honorary Professor in the Barttlet School of Planning, University College of London. His research interests include urban planning, safer cities, urban regeneration, ethnic minorities and planning, urban design, creating mixed-use areas, and ageing and city living. He is editor of the Journal of Urban Design.

Other keynote-speakers will be annouced soon.

Organizing Committe

Fernando Brandão Alves, Sara Santos Cruz, Ana Monteiro, Anabela Ribeiro, Sílvia Sousa, João Cortesão, Catarina Pina, Ana Sousa

Scientific Committe

Patsey Healey, David Perry, Kenneth Button, Klauz Kunzmann, Paulo Pinho, Isabel Breda-Vázquez, Álvaro Costa, António Pais Antunes, Fernando Brandão Alves, Sara Santos Cruz, Ana Monteiro, Anabela Ribeiro