Livable Lesson: Cities That Work for All Ages

How can you tell if a city, or any community, is livable for all its residents?

One big clue is whether an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old can each safely use and enjoy the community's outdoor spaces and public places.

As Gil Penalosa has been both asking and declaring for more than two decades: "What if everything we do in our cities was great for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old?

According to Penalosa, a city is truly great when people of all ages — not just healthy, fit 30-somethings — have the opportunity to walk or bicycle to their destinations and enjoy being outside.

Established in 2007, 8 80 Cities, is the Toronto-based not-for-profit organization Penalosa created to help cities worldwide "move from talking to doing" by developing accessible public parks, promoting walkable and bikeable streets, and fostering well-being, physical activity and equitable access to healthy places.

In the Livable Lesson video below, Penalosa guides viewers through these concepts and goals, providing examples of cities that have revived public parks, creatively reimagined its infrastructure and implemented Open Streets (where roads are closed to vehicles and opened to people).

Beginning with his experience as the parks commissioner of Bogota, Columbia, during the 1990s, Penalosa describes how towns and cities can serve the needs of all residents and do so in a sustainable way. 

Older People and Cities

Related Links

• Interview: 5 Questions for Gil Penalosa
• Video: Gil Penalosa at the 2016 AARP Livable Communities National Conference
• Webinar: "Rules of Engagement with 8 80 Cities"
• Publication: "Parks and Public Spaces for People of All Ages" by AARP and 8 80 Cities

Twitter

• 8 80 Cities: @880Cities | Gil Penalosa: @Penalosa_G | World Urban Parks: @WUParks

Learn More

• More Livable Lesson Videos

_{The video on this page was created by an external organization so might not reflect AARP’s public policies or advocacy positions, which can be found in the AARP Policy Book.}  

_{The videos were filmed in 2020 | Page published March 2021}