The consequences of the ageing of the population

In 1997, the IAU île-de-France initiated a prospective reflection on the increasing number of persons 60 and over in our society, and on its effects on retirement, services, transport, leisure activities.

Over the future decades, the development of new forms of work, the reduction of working hours, the incredible progress of methods of communication and information will still be likely to fundamentally affect our behaviour.

In this context of continual change, can the ageing of the population also constitute one of the principal vectors of change in city life?

In the Ile-de-France, there is a very strong chance that the unprecedented growth of an elderly population, mobile and in good health, having a powerful role in the country's economy, will weigh heavily on the functioning and organisation of our society.

All actors with influence on the economic and cultural worlds and on life style must understand this and be involved in this movement, in all that concerns the daily life of this growing and very demanding population, which will for the most part be initiated in the new technologies, accustomed to moving around rapidly and individually and which will want to enjoy the safety and comfort of modern life.

The second volume (no. 122) of Les Cahiers addresses the issues of transport, housing and lifestyles of elderly people by attempting to distinguish what is the effect of age from what is the effect of generation.