Community Planning/Visioning

This online publication consists of 14 chapters that highlight specific applications of the Intergenerational Contact Zones (ICZ) concept. The focus is on creating community settings that welcome age- and generation- diverse populations, provide opportunities for meaningful intergenerational engagement, and enrich community life.

AARP Maryland, AARP Foundation and their Experience Corps Program as well as Real School Gardens and Baltimore City Schools worked together to create this space at a Baltimore inner city elementary school. They worked within the parameters of their available budget, the skills and capacity of each partner, and the assets of their desired location.

The Planning Across Generations project, led by Professor Mildred Warner (Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University), addresses how communities can benefit from planning to meet the needs of both families with children and the aging population.

A toolkit for planning, engagement and action.

Technology enhanced public spaces for intergenerational learning.

A body of resources introducing various approaches for addressing the issues presented by the demographic trend of population aging. The orientation is one of promoting coordinated planning across organizations, governmental units, and commissions.

Panelists: Arthur Chang, AIA, Senior Project Architect, NADAAA; Matthew Kaplan, PhD, Professor, Intergenerational Programs and Aging, Penn State University; Margaret Sullivan, Principal, Margaret Sullivan Studio; and Joyce Weil, PhD, Curriculum Manager, Older Adults Technology Center (OATS). [Sponsored by the AIA/Center for Architecture, New York - March 2020]

Designing Inclusive Communities. Insights from Nancy Morrow-Howell. Article by Rosalind Early (Nov. 12, 2020), published in "The Source" (Washington University in St. Louis).

A step-by-step guide for creating and improving green spaces and public spaces for people of all ages (by AARP Livable Communities, 8 80 Cities and The Trust for Public Land).

Ideas, projects, and programs for how the "experienced class" (people who enhance communities through their skills and life lessons, influence and involvement) help communities respond to pressing issues, build partnerships, and improve community quality of life).

Addressing Social Isolation through the Built Environment (Dec. 10, 2020) is a one hour webinar featuring international urban scholar and practitioner Michael Mehaffy and Philip B. Stafford, anthropologist and Co-Design Director of Commons Planning, Inc.

Planned, intergenerational communities can help support families raising foster children, as well as youth and elders seeking low-income housing and community. ["Stanford Social Innovation Review" article - by Derenda Schubert, Renee Mosely, Lindsay Magnuson, and Sarah Feldman.]

Intergenerational Shared Sites: Concepts, models, and best practices. Full reference: Sánchez, M., Rodríguez, A., Campos, C., Castillo, M., Bonachela, R., and González, L. (2021). Guía de Centros Intergeneracionales. Concepto y claves de puesta en marcha (Documento no2) [Intergenerational shared sites: Concept and start-up keys (Doc. #2)] Granada: Cátedra Macrosad de Estudios Intergeneracionales de la Universidad de Granada.

This NPR story (5 minute video clip) provides highlights from rural communities in Minessota that are tackling social isolation and loneliness via a statewide intergenerational program funded by the Northland Foundation, called "AGE to age".

In this podcast, Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United, discusses trends and examples of multigenerational living. It is part of Stanford Center on Longevity's "Century Lives" podcast series on ways to ensure that our lives are not just longer, but healthy and rewarding as well.

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The AFLE initiative, funded by the Scottish University Insight Institute, is a compelling, innovative framework for connecting people across generations, using creative, accesssible methods for creating mutually beneficial spaces. [Citation for the final report: Fang, M. L., Sixsmith, J., & Pryde Hamilton, A. (2022). Intergenerational and Age-friendly Living Ecosystems (AFLE). University of Dundee. https://doi.org/10.20933/100001223]

Generations United, Nesterly, and Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies co-hosted an inspirational and informative virtual event on the emerging continuum of intergenerational living approaches, including home sharing, grandfamily housing, co-housing, and more; and how communities and organizations can help advance them [Aug. 23, 2022]

This is the title of a Dec. 2022 American Planning Association PAS report (Katz and Kaplan/ Generations United). The report shares how bringing an intergenerational lens to community planning can help planners identify the needs and vulnerabilities of the young and the old — as well as their assets and strengths — to create synergies and solutions that benefit everyone.

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This "AARP Equity by Design - Principles in Action" (2023) publication was written by Stephanie Firestone and Julia Glassman. As noted in the article, "Play is among the most beneficial forms of intergenerational engagement." The article highlights the critical role of the built environment in facilitating intergenerational play.

"One Community-Many Generations" is Penn State Extension's interactive community-assessment tool and planning process to build age-inclusive, livable communities and initiate community action plans.

This Blog, written by David Rouse, FAICP, ASLA, features the American Planning Association's PAS Report on "Intergenerational Community Planning" and the Mid-Atlantic Intergenerational Conference symposium on "Intergenerational Community Planning and Placemaking" (held in Lancaster, PA - 2024). David is an urban planner and landscape architect with over 40 years of experience, including a stint as Research Director for the American Planning Association.