ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on The Villages of Florida, as a contemporary urban mutation responding to the emergence of the social group known as the “Young-Old.” The Villages is an emblematic case of the tendency in the US away from housing or institutions for the elderly, toward market-driven senior ‘active-adult’ communities as comprehensive segment-responsive lifestyle products. These are dedicated to specific notions of young-old well-being centered on emancipatory infrastructures countering social alienation and physical and mental inactivity—supporting ‘youthfulness without youth.’ This is enacted at an urban scale through a range of novel spatial and temporal techniques, including: historically-themed space; extensive activity programming; and other innovative urban approaches to mobility infrastructure and health service amenities—the latter which will be described in greater detail. While articulating a spatial imaginary of late freedom, The Villages raises questions regarding its resilience as a model for senior housing or senior care. These concerns range from its undermining of intergenerational integration and solidarity resulting from urban scale spatial segregation and securitization; to the spatial and social inequities resulting from The Villages’ model of private governance; to the predominant denial of the needs of the final phase of life.
