Ageing societies: Demographic Changes and their Consequences for Strategic Urban Development

City of Vienna

In Austria as well as in the whole European Union the decreasing birth rate and the still increasing expectancy of life have led to a distinctive demographic change. This trend to an ageing society is forecast to continue in the following decades. It is assumed that ageing processes, ageing-related attributions, social constructions as well as self perceptions will change continuously. The project deals with the current modification of the ageing structure and differentiation of the age phases against the background of diversified life courses. It is gone further into the question which changes of requirements of the 30-50 year old Viennese population can be predicted in the following decades and which challenges therefore arise for a future-oriented city council. The leading research principle is the question of transferring the cognitions to the services and to the intern and extern marketing of a metropolis. Based on current trends of the society and consumer behavior, possible consequences on shape and content of communal services are presented by means of “Citizen Relationship Management”. Moreover strategies and potential recommended actions for the improvement of the future communal service offering related to an age-based city are developed.