Solutions for ageing populations

Population ageing is a key challenge for all highly developed societies over the coming decades and will have a major impact on the economy. But where exactly do the elderly live? To efficiently target the ageing population, it is of utmost importance to have location-based information on the current and future distribution of the ageing population.

GeoVille and its partner World Data Lab (WDL) developed a new generation of population dynamics modelling that transforms high resolution satellite Earth observation (EO) data into blueprints of where age groups live and significantly improves existing census data. Thereby, in an agile, interdisciplinary approach, EO derived land use and population density data was applied with state-of-the art demographic and econometric modelling techniques. The unique approach not only provides spatially explicit demographic data but also provides the methodological basis for deriving spatial information on a variety of socio-economic parameters and their long-term forecasting.

The starting point for the developments was a recent feasibility study called AgeSpot that was funded by the European Space Agency. In future, AgeSpot will bridge the gap between the users’ needs for information on age-specific, geospatially explicit population distribution and the cost constraints of surveying such data. Such information brings added value for the ageing population market such as health care, safety and security, social, leisure and education, but also for the public and private sector including pharmaceutical and insurance companies as well as companies offering consumer goods. Moreover, it helps to find out where to offer which specific services and to adapt their supply to the local demand depending on the demographic structures of different regions. In developing countries, potential uses can include zoning laws, infrastructure planning or site identification of organisations.

For more information please also check the blog recently published by ESRI WhereNext Magazine as well as Future Development:

ESRI WhereNext Magazin: How and Where the Population Will Age

Future Development: Solutions for aging populations