Goldsmith Talks: Redesigning Airports for an Aging Population
Presented by Coleen Gentles, School of Architecture, CRP Program, Class of 2016 and Dr. Sandra Rosenbloom, School of Architecture, Research Professor, Fellow of Hampton K. and Margaret Frye Snell Endowed Chair in Transportation; Editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association.
The U.S. Census Bureau projects that between 2012 and 2050 the United States will experience considerable growth in its older population: “in 2050, the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 83.7 million people. Almost double its estimated population of 43.1 million in 2012.” Paired with the fact that travel ranks among the top aspirations of current retirees, the importance of planning aging friendly airports cannot be understated. Today’s airports are not equipped to accommodate this increase of the aging passengers. Current solutions are limited and inefficient uses of airport resources. Though most airports provide wheelchairs for aging passengers who need assistance traversing the airport, this solution does not address the multi-faceted challenges faced by aging passengers. This proposal for the Airport Cooperative Research Program of the National Research Council addresses problems in existing airports as well as design approaches for new terminals. Rectifying these issues is imperative because current structures in airports will fail the oncoming challenges associated with aging passengers without proper planning. Our multidimensional approach utilizes city planning strategies to provide solutions to problems specific to aging travelers, which will result in increased revenue for airports and a safer, more enjoyable travel environment for aging travelers.
Our airport redesign proposal was a class project for Dr. Rosenbloom's Creating Intergenerational Communities course, Fall 2015.
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Goldsmith Talks is an open-format series of presentations organized by UTSOA faculty, staff, and students. the series aims to encourage and promote presentations that are outside of the scope of the main lecture series. Examples are: invited seminar presentations, book talks, lectures by designers and scholars who may be in Austin for another engagement, round-table discussions, film screenings, product demonstrations, or any other activity related to research, scholarship, and teaching activities and at the school. The format provides a platform for encouraging the dissemination of work by visitors and members of our community. The goal is to raise awareness, increase access, and better integrate such events within the public life of the school.