CARP Action Online: You have been a supporter of what’s called “creative cities” and so is Richard Florida who as you know, came up with the gay-bohemian index that basically makes a connection between the culture of tolerance that exists in a city and its prosperity. Can you talk to us a little bit about “creative cities” and the “knowledge economy”?
Good question. Richard Florida is right, there is disproportionate number of gay and lesbian people in the knowledge economy and in the creative industries. Many people work right out of their homes and one of the promises of the aging population is that people will probably be able to work a lot longer, they will be able to work on the internet with business partners that could be halfway around the world. It really has cut down on the cost of transport and it allows for people with independent enterprises to continue their occupations well into their 70s and 80s.
Something you see a lot is retired people going back to work part time, like planners or cultural researchers who worked for provincial governments all their lives and who are now helping redevelop cities… They tend to work out of their homes and enjoy doing things like mentoring younger people. This is really a different economy from the economy that existed when I was born in n1957 when most people would do physical labour or management work related to production then they would retire at 65 with a pension from their companies. There is no longer that sort of cut and dried retirement point in the knowledge and creative economies.
We also have a highly mobile workforce since this work can be done anywhere in the world. This aging population will have different service needs by the time the boomers hit their retirement years, they’re going to have their own way of defining what services they will need as they age. It’s going to be interesting to see how they, as a generation, can serve themselves by pursuing longer employment.
It’s actually really good news that our economy is much less reliant on physical labour and commuting and more reliant on virtual connectivity because that creates an opportunity to integrate everyone, people can stay economically productive well into their old age.
CARP Action Online: Can you point to cities that are doing this really well that we can look to as a model?
Not really… Although they are doing more in Sweden and Denmark. Iin Denmark they have medically equipped housing for people with limited mobility and dementia… In smaller communities they sometimes placed tags, kind of like military tags around the necks of residents and instead of confining them or using restraints they put a bicycle helmet on them and they are allowed to roam freely in the neighborhood. They are known and well liked by all the people in the community and they can stay active.
They realize that some of these challenges will render people vulnerable but they don’t think the answer is to house them up, they choose to involve the community and they have people with dementia that are an active part of their communities.
