Urban planning

It is projected that, about 25 years from now, one in four people in Hong Kong will be age 65 or over. Amazing! Have you ever imagined what it will be like when you walk on the streets or go anywhere in the city where you live, and every fourth person you run into is a senior? I have been thinking about that lately.

I think there will be more wheelchairs everywhere. Walkways, pavements, passages, etc., will need to be provided to cater to this need. They will have to be much wider. I visualize that elevators and escalators will be much slower than they are now, to allow for the slower reactions of older people. I imagine that public transport will have more special features that cater to the needs of people who require walking assistance, and for wheelchair users. And it will only be reasonable to have more resting places throughout buildings and public places, where people can pause and take a break.

Navigating stairways is a struggle for many seniors.

Activists are pushing hard for industries and the commercial sector to adopt the principles of universal design so that we can begin creating a more friendly environment for the old and disabled. By then, I don’t think we will need to fight that hard. Universal design will be incorporated in lots of places, maybe nearly everywhere. The sheer political force of the large number of seniors will make their voices more easily heard and their demands better answered.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.