Fade to grey: The changing landscape of sport and recreation in super-aged Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Population ageing is a global megatrend, which will have profound impacts on economies, health systems, families, and patterns of sport and recreation participation within three decades. Despite the inevitability of this demographic shift, too little attention is being paid by decision makers and urban planners to the fundamental and myriad ways in which this phenomenon impacts community recreation and wellbeing. In this presentation I will discuss the changing nature of New Zealand’s population, national patterns of sport and recreation among older adults, the prevailing disconnect between urban recreation provision and the needs and preferences of older consumers, and the potential for meaningfully embedding age-friendliness as an overarching design ethos. The window for entrenching age-inclusive design in new recreation, active travel, and community infrastructure is rapidly closing with current decisions potentially constraining our capacity to respond effectively to the greying of Aotearoa