The Guardian

Tiny houses: salvation for the homeless or a dead end?

Wooden cabins euphemistically referred to as tiny houses are increasingly viewed as a quick and cheap solution to homelessness and, with minimal public debate, they are mushrooming across the US. The trend is most apparent in northern California and the Pacific north-west.
2017

Improving with age? How city design is adapting to older populations

By 2050, there will be more over-65s than children under 15. The number of people over 100 will increase by 1,000%. And as by then 70% of the world’s population will likely live in cites, this will present huge challenges, and cities will need to adapt. An ageing population is not inherently a bad thing: it reflects improved health and rising life expectancies.
2016

Lessons from Finland: helping homeless people starts with giving them homes

The housing first model is quite simple: when people are homeless, you give them housing first – a stable home, rather than progressing them through several levels of temporary and transitional accommodation.
2016
Themes:

What would it take to make an age-friendly city?

The challenges of caring for older people are growing as we live longer. By 2050 an estimated 83.7 million people in the US will be over 65.
2016

The experiments providing homes around the world

While housing is a national crisis, the most pressing concerns differ from area to area. The lack of affordable homes being built every year is a huge issue. The current crisis isn’t just about a lack of political will to invest in social housing.
2016

Cohousing: 'It makes sense for people with things in common to live together'

New housing scheme offering older people the chance to live independently but in a shared community. The article discusses a pioneering new housing scheme for older women in North London, where members would move together into a custom-built housing development, in which each would have her own self-contained apartment and front door, but where they would share communal facilities.
2015

Older, single women are the new face of homelessness, says Anglican report

Older single women are the new face of homelessness in Australia, welfare group Anglicare has revealed in a new report that looks at the groups falling through the cracks in society. The State of the Family report, released on Monday, found that older single women were much more vulnerable to poverty and homelessness due to lower workplace participation, lifelong unpaid caring responsibilities an
2015

Scandal of Europe's 11m empty homes

More than 11m homes lie empty across Europe – enough to house all of the continent's homeless twice over. Housing campaigners said the incredible number of homes lying empty while millions of poor people were crying out for shelter was a shocking waste. "It's incredible.
2014

Are urban environments best for an ageing population?

For an ageing society to function there needs to be a movement back to the cities – but cities need to be adapted and designed with this in mind. A UK article looking at strategies for creating age-friendly cities.
2012

Specs and the city: planning for an ageing urban population

Creating communities that meet the needs and aspirations of older people is now a major concern for social and public policy. Involving older people in the social and economic life of cities will be a crucial task for urban development in the years ahead.
2012
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