Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society

Gerontopia examines contemporary architectural and urban mutations that have emerged as a consequence of one of the key demographic transformations of our time: population aging. Distinguishing between different phases of old age, it identifies the group known as the "Young-Old" as a remarkable petri dish for experimental forms of subjectivity, collectivity, and environment. In investigating this field of latent urban and architectural novelty, Gerontopia asserts both the escapist and emancipatory dimensions of these practices. Richly illustrated with drawings, maps, and photographs, the volume documents phenomena ranging from the continuous, golf cart accessible urban landscapes of the world's largest retirement community in Florida and the mono-national urbanizaciones of "the retirement home of Europe" on Costa del Sol, to the Dutch-themed residential community at Huis Ten Bosch in the south of Japan.