Planning for an inclusive society. : - a qualitative study into elderly urban planning in Sweden.

Abstract: This thesis discusses the relationship between elderly urban planning and the ageing society from an elderly person’s perspective and from the municipality perspective. Two municipalities that is on the top ten list of having an older population have been studied in Sweden. In order to assess what planners and the perspective of elderly people in connection to age-friendly planning. In this essay was interviews used as the method where planners and citizens in the two chosen municipalities, Vadstena and Rättvik, was interviewed. In order to analyse the collected material I have implemented a thematic analysis where the focus was to find themes in the data collection. The results show a lack of communication between the municipalities, specifically regarding participation and acknowledging the elderly associations in place. The citizens perspective where a lacking factor about elderly urban planning which prevent elderly people from living more social lives. Lastly, there were a will from the planners to start moving chains but the population had opposite understanding of what was supposed to happen. The perspective from the citizens showed that both municipalities lacked places for only elderly people to socialize and both are in need of improved transportation services. There were a will from the planners wanting to change and improve the future of elderly urban planning with more alternatives. For this thesis I interview the elderly population in smaller municipalities and read about how elderly people are portrayed in planning in smaller municipalities. This thesis aim to target the perspective of elderly people about planning and ageing.