Housing for All Ages. Planning Intergenerational Cities through Inclusive Housing Systems

Cities around the world are undergoing profound demographic change. Ageing populations, growing youth cohorts, longer life expectancy, changing family structures, and increasingly multi-generational households are reshaping housing needs and urban life. Yet housing and planning systems often respond in fragmented, age-segmented ways, addressing children, youth, working adults, and older persons separately. This approach can unintentionally reinforce social isolation, inequality, and inefficiencies in housing supply and service delivery. This SDGs in Action session positions intergenerational housing and planning as a practical, inclusive strategy for building resilient and liveable cities. It explores how planning systems can actively support housing for all ages by enabling intergenerational living arrangements, adaptable and flexible housing design, mixed-use and mixed-tenure neighbourhoods, shared services, and proximity to education, care, employment, and high-quality public space. Rather than treating housing as a standalone asset, the session frames housing as essential social infrastructure that supports wellbeing and participation across the life course. The dialogue will examine how intergenerational approaches can simultaneously address multiple urban challenges, including housing affordability, social cohesion, ageing in place, youth inclusion, care provision, and community resilience. By integrating the needs of different age groups within the same neighbourhoods and housing systems, cities can create environments that are more efficient, inclusive, and responsive to demographic change. Through applied examples from cities and communities working with children, youth, families, and older persons, the session will highlight how planning and housing policies are being used to foster intergenerational connection and mutual support. These examples will demonstrate how inclusive housing systems can contribute directly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities, while also advancing goals related to health and wellbeing, reduced inequalities, and social inclusion. The session aims to inspire planners, policymakers, housing practitioners, and community actors to rethink housing through an intergenerational lens, supporting cities to plan and deliver housing systems that work for people of all ages, now and into the future.