Hengelo | Right care in the right place

Hengelo has a rich history and tradition in the field of ageing policy. Just as many other cities in Europe, Hengelo finds itself on the eve of significant population ageing. In the light of the trend of ageing in place and extending living at home independently, this leads to many changes in various fields. It is an enormous challenge to find good solutions for the complex issues the city is facing. The 14 municipalities that form the Region of Twente work together on the topic of population ageing. The network of Age-Friendly European cities, the Urban Ageing working group and the ESPON ACPA study do help as well.

The cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Gothenburg, Hengelo, Greater Manchester, Nantes, Oslo and Zaragoza belong to a group of cities that are either already facing relatively high percentages of older people in their populations, or expect such high percentages in the near future. During the last years, these cities have undertaken action to improve quality of life for older people. Still, they have a knowledge need related to the following questions:

  • How do older people experience the daily life in the cities?
  • What do older people view as benefits and constraints associated with urban living?
  • How are the eight stakeholder cities responding to population ageing?
  • Which policies have been the most effective in developing age-friendly cities and how have they been implemented and which are the success factors?

ESPON ACPA has responded to these needs and resulted in good practices and policy recommendations based on case study research in the eight stakeholder cities. These insights have been combined in the ACPA synthesis report, main report and policy handbook.

The present report focuses on Hengelo and portrays the state of affairs in the city in terms of:

  • Demographic trends and developments related to population ageing within the city;
  • The strategy and policies that the urban authorities, professionals and other stakeholders in Hengelo pursue to cope with population ageing;
  • A selection of inspiring examples of how the ageing policy has been implemented;
  • Challenges and opportunities from the perspective of older people, interest groups and policy makers;
  • Policy recommendations for Hengelo based on the insights that have emerged from ACPA.

Further information

This Case Study is part of the ESPON Targeted Analysis ACPA.

This Case Study is available below in EN and NL.

Contact our expert Piera Petruzzi

Documents

ESPON ACPA_city report_Hengelo.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 766KB

ESPON ACPA city report Hengelo_NL.pdf