The Urban Affordance for Longevity: Toward an Integrated Approach for Healthy Ageing in Place in Medium-Sized Cities

Addressing global urbanization and demographic shifts, this study argues that urban affordance—the environment’s capacity to promote or constrain healthy activities—is the critical link missing in current ageing in place (AIP) models. The research introduces a new multidisciplinary approach bridging urbanism, statistics, and psychology to evaluate the relationship between urban space and ageing through the lens of environmental affordance. It synthesizes 47 indicators across five macro-areas (demographic, economic, healthcare, social–relational and urban–environmental) into a composite index named the index of Vulnerability for Ageing in place and Longevity (VAL index). It maps over 65 vulnerabilities related to AIP at the neighbourhood level in Bergamo, an Italian medium-sized city. The VAL index reveals critical discrepancies between objective urban determinants and subjective resident conditions (e.g., high walkability contrast with low perceived safety). In conclusion, this index reorients urban planning for ageing, leveraging an AIP approach to advance spatial justice and demographic resilience.