URBAN SPACES, NEW BUILDINGS AND IC TECHNOLOGIES FOR HEALTH SUSTAINABILITY

Introduction
In an ageing society the quality of health necessarily passes through the quality of life of progressively more fragile people, and the sustainability of the health system becomes a crucial aspect for the economic sustainability of the most civilized countries (AAL PROGRAMME). Citizens over 65 will be more than half of the population by 2050, but older people over 85 will be over 13% of citizens (Arbizzani, 2015). We are facing an epochal change in all aspects of civil and social life and this is mainly reflected on the issue of welfare sustainability. Already today, more than half of hospital stays are represented by people over the age of 65, and the trend is rapidly increasing with the age of the citizens who have to turn to hospital services. Older people need more long-term care than acute care and such care can be provided in de-hospitalized facilities, or better directly at home. In this framework of progressive fragility, elderly people are today much more active and fit than even just a few decades ago. They have a higher level of education, and experience an active life until later in life. They retire later and remain active, both to maintain their own livelihood and their own free will. This compatibly with a physical framework that necessarily becomes progressively more fragile and requires assistance and personal care services. […]