Designing Cities for All Ages: Key Outcomes from UNECE Webinar

On 31 March, UNECE hosted the webinar “Cities for All Generations: Age-Inclusive Urban Development”, the fourth session of the series on Inclusive Urban Recovery in Ukraine. Organized under the UN4UkrainianCities project, in collaboration with the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF Ukraine, and GIZ Ukraine. The event brought together national and local authorities, UN agencies, and international experts to discuss inclusive approaches to urban recovery, with a particular focus on intergenerational strategies. The webinar aimed to show how cities can become more liveable, accessible, and safe for everyone by integrating age-friendly perspectives to urban planning and services, especially in Ukraine. Indeed, such strategies would ultimately help bring generations together, strengthen social cohesion, and make communities more resilient to the long-term impacts of the war.

The webinar aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Youth Strategy (Youth 2030), the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, and the overarching principle of Leaving No One Behind, emphasizing cities as shared spaces where all generations can thrive during recovery and beyond.

High-level discussions on age-inclusive planning and intergenerational approaches:

The session opened with remarks from Dario Liguti, UNECE Director of the Energy, Housing and Land Management Division, who provided an overview of the past webinars’ topics, summarizing the key highlights of the whole webinar series, also underlining the importance of intergenerational design to rebuild Ukrainian cities in ways that are truly inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, ensuring reconstruction serves the needs of everyone.

Openings were followed by an Expert Presentations session on inclusive design across generations, where speeches and presentations were provided by:

• Uliana Tokareva, Deputy Minister for Youth and Sport of Ukraine

• Lisa Warth, Chief of UNECE Population Unit

• Sara Candiracci, Associate Director at Arup's Cities and Design Team, Italy

• Thiago Herick de Sa, Technical Officer at Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities, WHO Age-Friendly Cities

These international experts merged different expertise and experiences, providing a broad range of insightful perspectives and exploring key topics:

• The importance of inclusive and intergenerational urban design in the context of Ukraine’s recovery;

• Ways to engage young people in community life and decision-making;

• Universal design as a long-term social and economic investment;

• Recovery as an opportunity to create spaces that foster trust, connection, and healing after trauma

• Examples of participatory approaches that involve communities throughout the entire planning process.

The Case Study Spotlight session included a presentation by Jèssica Pujol, Officer in the Department of Communication and Participation at Barcelona City Council, who provided a detailed explanation of how different age categories engaged in the participatory process behind the transformation of the San Marti linear park, with concrete insights on how to effectively engage the public (e.g., informal meetings, creative activities, workshops).

Furthermore, Kostiantyn Demenkov, Adolescent Development Officer in Kharkiv at UNICEF Ukraine, showcased UNICEF’s work creating new initiatives and supporting already existing projects, such as youth councils. These bodies, created by city councils, ensure youth participation, serving as advisory platforms to government and as spaces to understand young people’s needs and strengthen trust between youth and public institutions. He also highlighted the importance of creating spaces for interaction, where young people can develop skills, express their ideas, and actively participate in their communities.

Developing Ukrainian Cities for All Generations:

The final session concluded with a dynamic panel discussion, during which Ukrainian speakers explored the challenges and contributions of different generations in urban recovery, highlighted the role of platforms for intergenerational dialogue in planning, and explored institutional tools and inclusive frameworks for co-design.

The conversation included Oleksandr Sanchenko, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Humanitarian and Information Policy, who presented the ongoing housing reform and stressed its importance in addressing current shortages that pose challenges to the population, particularly for young people. Andrii Strikharskyi, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Organization of State Authority, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, stressed that Ukraine’s reconstruction must go beyond infrastructure to address the current demographic and social changes. Yevhen Plashchenko, Director of the Department of Spatial Planning and Architecture at the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, explored the initiatives that the government has already taken to support adequate changes towards comprehensive reforms in housing policy and spatial planning to make cities more sustainable, resilient, and people-centered.

Serhii Kohut, Chairperson of the Public Council under the State Youth Fund, Member of the Irpin City Council, focused on the experience of the city of Irpin, which has moved beyond simply rebuilding damaged housing and infrastructure toward rethinking its development model, including the views of different age groups. Galina Poliakova, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Charitable Organization “Care for the Elderly in Ukraine,” emphasized the growing importance of older persons in Ukraine. She highlighted the challenges faced by those living alone or in remote areas, often experiencing isolation, psychological distress, and trauma after being left behind. She also stressed the need to reduce societal prejudice against older people.

Yevhen Shatilov, Expert at the NGO “Building Ukraine Together,” concluded showcasing his organization’s initiatives, which aim to support community-led actions, empower youth to participate in rebuilding efforts, gain civic engagement experience, and foster sustainable local action despite current constraints.

Overall, the discussion underscored that age inclusion must be a core pillar of Ukraine’s recovery, with panelists exploring both already implemented initiatives and long-term projects, and focusing on different segments of the population. This session highlighted both the challenges and opportunities in Ukraine for creating cities that truly consider the needs of all generations. 

Looking ahead:

The event brought together 13 speakers and over 840 attendees from 20 countries, with 95% joining from Ukraine. The countries with the highest rates of participation included Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Poland. These figures demonstrate the relevance of the topic not only to the discussion in Ukraine but also to the broader international community. Women accounted for around 61.5% of participants.

The webinar series has concluded after four sessions. A final in-person event will translate these cross-cutting themes, from gender and displacement to disability and age inclusion, into concrete actions within urban planning and recovery processes.