Youth and elderly isolation concerns as Auckland grows

Auckland advocates for both young and old are concerned that urban intensification may lead to increased loneliness among peers.

Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) deputy chair Alex Johnston said while intensification can be a great way of bringing people together, without real connection it can also create isolation for youth.

“It’s the irony, when you are standing there on Queen Street [in the CBD], there’s so many people going by you but you feel quite alone,” he said at Auckland Council's Community Development and Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Mr Johnston said it was important to ensure that as Auckland grows, there are easily accessible spaces in the community for young people to get together and connect.

Fellow YAP member Mackenzie Valgre said that while intensification means young people can have more interaction because they are closer to each other, youth living in the sprawl of suburban areas can miss out.

“It’s just too difficult to get around, it’s too expensive and if you don’t have a car, how in the world would you ever get to Waitakere for example,” she said.

Kevin Lamb, CEO of Age Concern Auckland, an organisation dedicated to the well-being of elderly, said it was important to consider building accessible and frequent transport routes for seniors with mobility issues.

Mr Lamb said immobility means elderly cannot go to the spaces to connect with others and therefore can result in loneliness.

A survey of 1000 seniors conducted by the group found that nearly one-third suffered from some form of isolation.

“This wasn’t a question of just feeling blue on a wet Tuesday,” he said. “This was being lonely and isolated to a point that was detrimental to health and well-being.”

Stephen Bell, the national spokesperson for Youthline, a counselling group for young people, said the majority of youth calling the helpline, suffer from some form of disengagement from the world.

Mr Bell said with growing building intensification, maintaining spaces for community interaction, especially for young people, was vital.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity as long as . . . from Youthline’s perspective, if our city design can work for young people, it’ll work for all people,” he said.