Community for Life

Community for Life is an ambitious urban development plan that brings core value of the Nordic welfare society in front and creates a new norm for social sustainability. The masterplan innovatively integrates a dementia village into a residential neighborhood with housing, youth housing, collective housing, kindergarten, workshops and community houses.

It is planned for people of all ages, healthy and sick. Sickness is a part of life – this project takes that into account by denying the ordinary process of moving sick people into institutions. Instead the neighborhood is prepared to include everyone, also the ones with dementia, which is an illness that often tends to start early on, when people are neither old nor physically ill.

The landscape in is weaved into the dense urban structure. Small squares, gardens, small parks, playgrounds and blue-green biotopes create plenty of opportunities for social exchange as well as contemplation.

There is space for having animals and growing vegetables – activities that contribute to the therapy of dementia patients. The landscape is strategically planned to help “nudge” people to stay in the area, which is important for the safety of people suffering from dementia. Cars are kept on the periphery of the masterplan, making the central area a safe and slow space for soft traffic only.