Aging and urbanization: investigating different “Aging in Place” models in the city as an opportunity to empower individuals’ healthy longevity

The increasingly pressing emergencies in terms of aging and urbanization force us to reflect on the relationship between health and urban environment. The project aims to observe different Aging in Place (AIP) models in Bergamo city, focussing on the interplay between the city environment and individuals according to the new challenges posed by a paradigm shift from older individuals assisted living to the perspective of empowered aging. The research starts from a biopsychosocial perspective and adopts the Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of development. A over 80-year group of individuals living in two different neighbourhoods of Bergamo city is analysed as case study. Taking in mind two main focuses - individuals and places - quantitative and qualitative measurements are introduced. The individual focus assesses the healthy status and the motivation to empower in aging. At the same time, as the focus on places requires, a spatial analysis of the built environment combined with an ethnographic participant observation are conduct, adopting multidimensional and multi-level lens. Through the introduction of this research model, characterized by a multiple approach, we would like to understand the aging individual’s life history, the motivation of a living choice inside the city, and perceived satisfaction in the interaction with the urban environment she/he decide to live within. By analysing how some different AIP solutions influence their everyday living condition within the city of Bergamo we’ll be able to determine different grades of healthy longevity, and we’ll contribute to provide a fundamental perspective shift in the studies of aging and urbanization.