Introduction

In our previous article, Rethinking How to Prepare for Your Old Age[1], we argued for ‘healthy and active ageing’ which requires preparing for our senior life beyond its financial aspects. Among others, healthy and active ageing entails keeping your mind and body young and maintaining a healthy social life. While there are various dimensions to support ageing in the city, especially healthcare services and living arrangements, this article focuses on the specific dimension of public spaces and amenities. It asks whether our city is fit to support active ageing for its ageing population, and, if not, what essential social infrastructure would be required to make that happen?

Ageing in the city, how is it different?

Kuala Lumpur underwent significant urbanisation, as a result of both an increase in population and in-migration, which has kept its population relatively younger than the rural areas. While it was once common for people to work in cities and then retire in the countryside, the current trend suggests that living in the city during one's senior years may become a more common reality than it once was. This is based on an increasing number of senior citizens living in the city, projected to grow from roughly 7% in 2020 to 16% by 2040 (Figure 1). With this transition, it pushes us to assess if Kuala Lumpur is conducive to a healthy ageing population and whether its residents can construct a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle as they head towards retirement.

To recap, Healthy and Active Ageing involve the ‘preservation of one’s ability to grow, to make relationships, and to learn new things into the later parts of their lives’. Consider the possibilities of these in the current cities we live in – do you see yourselves able to grow as individuals, meet new people, maintain existing relationships, and pursuing life-long learning? How much does this ability vary from one city dweller to the other? We may learn from the recent pandemic-related lockdown: amidst dense living, access to open space is uneven, loneliness and anxiety rose, and the digital divide still exists in well-networked urban areas.

Following ASEAN’s Commitment 9 under the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Ageing to ‘Promote age-friendly communities/cities in the region through sustainable and accessible infrastructure’, we will look at how strengthening our social infrastructure might help us get on this path through three possible functions – as spaces for maintaining social, physiological, and mental wellbeing for elders. Eric Klinenberg's 2018 book, Palaces for the People, elaborates on the concept of 'social infrastructure' as physical and institutional infrastructures that contribute to the social life of cities. While social infrastructure focuses on social interaction and promoting social cohesion (Table 1), it also contributes to individual health and well-being.

Maintaining social connections and feeling part of a community

Social isolation and loneliness can seriously impact the physical and mental health of individuals, which can be exacerbated in urban settings. Khazanah Nasional’s 2023 Hari Raya short film ‘Rumah Mak’ sheds light on the experiences of an elderly mother who finds it challenging to adapt to the solitude of her daughter's urban home, longing for the vibrant social interactions available in her kampung (village) life. But the same may not apply to her daughter Putri, who having built her career and social life in the city, may prefer to maintain that connection as she ages. As households become smaller, older individuals or couples may rely more on external ties to sustain social life. In building her life towards retirement, social connections do not necessarily only involve family and friends, but also ‘strangers’ who are similarly part of the urban community.

However, making social connections as you get older is neither easy nor necessarily desirable. Vibrant common spaces like public parks, street cafes, warung (roadside stalls), and civic centres are examples of social infrastructure that allow citizens to ‘linger’ rather than engage with planned activities. As a result, there is less stress and pressure to participate or make an effort to meet new individuals. Rather, it provides a space where you can be alone, yet still be part of a crowd. This leverages on theories of ‘encounters’ and ‘contact hypothesis’ which are deemed to lower the unknowns between differing groups and improve social cohesion.

Taking cues from other ageing Asian societies, we see more cities actively enabling greater social access for their populations. Akita town in Japan for instance introduced a multi-generational city hall where citizens can gather and socialise. Singapore's publicly developed HDB housing integrates housing with generous meeting space, pocket parks, and hawker centres within short walking distance for people of various ages to gather. We have key infrastructure that already serves this purpose, for example religious spaces like mosques, churches, and temples, local kopitiams and mamak eateries, as well as urban parks. A key dimension is maintaining their ability to make different generations feel equally at ease, as some space can be too age- or gender-exclusive.