Are you familiar with green spaces? What about Silver Spaces? Perhaps associating a color with a physical location is not your usual way to describe an area; however, my word nerdiness was pleased with the recent use of the phrase Silver Space. With it’s common use in today’s culture, green space is likely a more familiar term, whether it’s referring to a natural spot alive with flora and fauna or an eco-friendly environment where energy efficiency is prioritized, but what do you suppose a Silver Space refers to? If you’ve read an earlier post entitled Emerging Elderhood, the answer may come rather quickly, but entertain this notion if you will.

Consider these thoughts from Linda Aronson, “Green is a natural label for environmental causes and eco-architecture…A recent NPR study indicated that no words used to describe old age have much appeal to either the old or the young. But silver has positive connotations of beauty and value, as well as associations with old age. Silver architecture and design therefore follows in the semantic footsteps of the green movement while invoking its unique mission.” So, I suggest that society should consider it’s Silver Spaces.

Aronson’s main focus is on the need for Silver medical buildings, but she makes applications to other areas of society, and I posit that we should too. “A silver medical building would offer easy, safe access that doesn’t require walking long distances, opening heavy doors, going to multiple locations, or standing in long wait lines. Its building materials would reduce noise, and design features would optimize lighting and minimize overstimulation, distraction, and risk of falls. Doors, rooms, and public areas would accommodate walkers, wheelchairs, and a person walking side by side or arm in arm with a friend, family member, or caregiver.” When teaching a sport facility class, we discuss that athletic training rooms require doors wide enough to accommodate two people assisting an injured player, or that a tough lesson learned from 9/11 was that stairways are often too narrow to fit emergency personnel and people exiting a building, so why not broaden our thoughts to not only addressing safety issues, but to increasing the number of Silver Spaces available?

In Emerging Elderhood and beyond, public spaces become more difficult to navigate. Aronson points out that often this phase of life brings hearing loss and visual impairments, yet public spaces are rarely conducive to talking, more often yelling; and “lighting is set for twenty-year olds. Imagine restaurants…with a degree of illumination that allowed for both menu reading and mood setting.” Her thoughts are that Silver Spaces “aren’t about indulging a special interest group. They’re about maximizing quality of life and independence for a life stage most of us will reach.”

It’s been my experience that many sporting events would not qualify as Silver Spaces. I’ve witnessed many avid sports fans, who’ve spent decades attending games, hand their season tickets over to their children because it’s just too challenging to navigate the places and spaces where game-day activities take place. Unfortunately, I’ve also watched Silver generations abandon leisure activities like traveling, camping, and fishing because it physically becomes not worth the effort. Physical limitations are a reality of the aged, but sometimes they impact the young as well. Blind spots often exist until it becomes personal or when someone we love experiences an obstacle. I’ll never forget an experience in college when the brother of my friend Kelly could not navigate with his wheelchair the local arena where the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship was played. Thankfully, this situation was rectified in time, but I offer that this is more than a compliance issue, but a thoughtful and considerate attention given to those with limitations or who God blesses with extra years on this earth.

Having recently moved to a city that contains, what I would consider both a Green and Silver Space, I am delighted to see Emerging Elders using this paved, creek side greenway for their morning physical activity, and not just because this generation will make eye contact and offer greetings, but because it’s important to their personal health and the health of our community when we take into consideration the places and spaces that enhance all areas of our well-being. Perhaps investigating this topic will lead me to check out the chair yoga at the local library next, but I wonder if we have it within our power to improve our design and architecture to meet some standard for a Silver Space!

References

Aronson, L. (2019). Elderhood: Redefining aging, transforming medicine, reimagining life. Bloomsbury Publishing. (TCL 362.6097 ARON) (July 2024)