16
LIVING
City limits?
Newcastle hosts first global event on building cities
of longevity.
L-R: Prof. Nic Palmarini, Sarah Green, Cllr Nick Kemp, Pam Smith,
Henry Kippin, Prof. Chris Day, Jane Robinson.
The UK National Innovation
Centre for Ageing (NICA) was
joined by representatives
from a number of countries
the week commencing 6 July for a
unique international conference on
healthy ageing in cities.
The inaugural City of Longevity
Global Conference brought together
researchers and NGOs with city
leaders and the private sector to
discuss methods and policies for
extending the healthy lifespan of
urban residents and visitors.
Hosted by NICA in partnership
with Newcastle City Council,
Newcastle University, North
of Tyne Combined Authority,
NewcastleGateshead Initiative,
Invest Newcastle, North East Times,
Monstarlab and Newcastle United
Foundation, the conference saw a
memorandum of understanding (MoU)
signed between the city delegations
to formalise and implement the City
of Longevity toolkit.
Healthy aging
The toolkit was presented by
Professor Nic Palmarini, Director
of NICA, and Yochai Zion Shavit,
Director of Research at Stanford
University Centre on Longevity,
and aims to facilitate the creation
of replicable models of urban
development that systematically
promote healthy ageing and longevity
through all channels of contact
between cities, residents and visitors.
It includes recommendations for
how city planners and policy makers
can leverage data and technology to
inform decision making and measure
the impact of new city programmes
and health interventions.
Professor Nic Palmarini,
Director of NICA, said: "If we are
to be successful in making the
transition from age-friendly cities
to longevity cities, then we must
have engagement at every level -
political, economic, academic, civil
society and of courses residents and
visitors. The first City of Longevity
Global Conference allowed us to
bring everyone together in a unique
way to discuss the big questions
facing humanity as we prepare for
the second billion of people aged
over 60. We hope that our City of
Longevity toolkit will also give us
a common language from which
we can build universal models of
prevention to extend the health span,
reduce the cost of care and integrate
public health systems with social
infrastructure so that people can
participate in city life for longer."
City testbed
The July 2023 conference was
formally opened by Newcastle City
Council, Newcastle University and
North of Tyne Combined Authority,
which are each committed to making
Newcastle a testbed for the City of
Longevity and a model for other
cities around the world.
Cllr Nick Kemp, Leader of
Newcastle City Council, said:
"Newcastle has a long history of
health innovation and so it was
brilliant to see us once again leading
the way by hosting the first ever
City of Longevity Global Conference
with NICA. From Bergamo to Buenos
Aires and everywhere in between, we
are all experiencing growth in both
the size and proportion of our older
population and so we need to work
together through initiatives like this
if we are going to be longevity ready."
The latest population data, which
shows the scale of the challenge
facing cities, was presented by
Horatio Cristian Terraza, Lead Urban
Specialist at The World Bank. He
was joined by leading international
figures such as Guendalina Graffigna,