Kyra Springer on a study trip in Zurich
Seniors in Radevormwald
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What Radevormwald can learn from Zurich
Radevormwald/Zurich Kyra Springer from the sponsoring association “aktiv55plus” experienced how senior-friendly housing works during a study trip to Switzerland organized by the Körber Foundation.
How will cities in Germany become more livable for senior citizens? In Radevormwald, among others, the sponsoring association “aktiv55plus” dealt with this question. The city of Radevormwald has now been invited to a study trip due to its membership in the WHO initiative “Age friendly Cities & Communities” as the first and (still) only city in Germany and the existing relationships with “aktiv55plus”. “These were interesting, stimulating, exhausting and exciting days with interested and interesting speakers and fellow travellers,” writes Kyra Springer, coordinator of “aktiv55plus”, who was there as a representative for Radevormwald.
18 mayors and age experts from German municipalities traveled to Zurich from September 7th to 9th at the invitation of Hamburg’s Körber Foundation. When the sponsoring association received the invitation, they consulted with the city administration. Volker Grossmann, head of social affairs at the city administration, consulted with Kyra Springer, in the end it was decided that the coordinator should take part in the trip.
The participants of the Age & City expedition – as the Körber Foundation’s annual international study trip is called – were able to gain very specific insights into neighborhood and housing projects, reports Kyra Springer. In the Kluspark, for example, which is said to be a health center for the elderly, two students reported on how they benefit from reduced housing and in return help the elderly residents with using digital media.
The concept also includes the fact that the park of the residential facility is public and that residents and visitors of all ages meet here. “Diverse therapeutic offers and solutions for inpatient and outpatient care should make the Kluspark a home for many older people with a wide variety of needs,” says the report.
“Outpatient before inpatient” – this motto applies to many living concepts in Zurich. An impressive example with a long tradition is the Espenhof, a settlement of the public-law Foundation for Senior Citizens’ Housing. The Espenhof and another 33 settlements of the foundation are intended to offer affordable and age-appropriate living space in the city. This offer has existed for more than 70 years. The number of apartments for the elderly is to be steadily increased over the next few years.
With the Hunziker Areal, the tour group from Germany was also able to visit a neighborhood project that was realized by the housing cooperative “more than living”. On the site of a former concrete factory, the project was completed in 2015 and aims to map the city’s demographics on a small scale. Communal living and mutual help from all residents are very important here. The city makes the site available to the housing cooperative under the so-called building rights.
On the last day, the group was a guest at the ETH Wohnforum. There, the results of the study “At home old” were presented. “Like all other topics of the trip, the explanations were characterized by a high level of practical relevance. Links to situations in Radevormwald could be formed immediately,” states Kyra Springer. “Back in the city on the heights, it is now a matter of evaluating the knowledge gained and checking for transferability,” sums up the coordinator of “aktiv55plus”. This process is now to be tackled together with Head of Office Volker Grossmann.