“The best way to predict the future is to design it.”

 

—Buckminster Fuller

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Overview
Drawing on key references such as The New Map of Life (Stanford Center for Longevity, 2018), human-centered urban design (Gehl, 2012; Sim, 2019), and longevity-focused frameworks (Scott, 2024; Lee, 2026), students will integrate product, service, and city interventions into a coherent vision for the LongevityTech City. The course examines the evolution of urban frameworks—from Age-friendly Cities (World Health Organization, 2007) and Cities of Longevity (National Innovation Centre for Ageing, 2023) to the emerging concept of the LongevityTech City—while encouraging students to develop their own design positions for a multigenerational society.

 

In partnership with the Dexter Senior Center, students will apply service design methods to reimagine future food delivery and nutrition systems, collaborating with older adults and community stakeholders to develop innovative, evidence-based solutions for a longevity society. Through fieldwork, systems thinking, and qualitative analysis, the course equips students with practical research and design methods that prepare them for future work in product, service, and urban innovation.

 

Reading Material

• Lee, S. (2025). Designing future longevity: Unclocking time, age, and society. DMI: Review 36(2), 4–11.

• Feehan, E., & Scott, A. J. (2024). The ‘evergreen economy’: Harnessing the power of healthy longevity. McKinsey Health Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/the-evergreen-economy-harnessing-the-power-of-healthy-longevity

• Sedini, C., Pei, X., & Zurlo, F. (2021). A walkable mile, co-designed with and for the senior citizens. In LONGEVICITY. https://sites.google.com/unimib.it/longevicity/

• ABC Nightline. (2009). IDEO shopping cart [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM