Aging, Living and what about Planning? Health Impact Assessment of the social rent case Elderly’s Village (Vila dos Idosos)
Populational aging is an indisputable phenomenon in the city of São Paulo, but little explored by perspectives that consider access to housing and the city. Housing is, therefore, the entry point to assimilate the multidimensionality of aging in the city of São Paulo. The general objective of this research was to carrry out a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the “Vila dos Idosos” (Elderly’s Village), in the neighborhood of Pari, looking for consisten links between access to decent housing and possible impacts and effects on the health of the populations served. For the HIA we conducted semi-structures interviews with key informants from different areas dealing with aging, as well as with elderly people living in “Vila dos Idosos”. Vila dos Idosos is understood here as a successful experience of housing access at a fair cost that could be replicated, hence the relevance of evaluating it. It begins with an introduction in which we locate the research and the methodological procedures. The work follows, in the second chapter, territorializing aging across the city of São Paulo; besides services for this populations, the demographic, longevity and housing dimmensions of this phenomenon are pointed out. The third chapter revisits the social struggle of the elderly’s housing movement GARMIC for the construction of Vila dos Idosos and its inclusiona in the Municipal Social Rent Program. The fourth chapter, in addition to presenting the HIA, shows four dimmensions assessed in Vila dos Idosos. The fifth chapter exposes the contributions of key informants interviewed regarding aging as a collective process. The sixth chapter deals with the particularities of the life course of the resident elderly people interviewed. The seventh and last chapter brings reflections about the tripod that entitles this thesis: aging, housing and planning. Among the conclusions are that HIA is a tool that allows integrating knowledge and evaluating the health effects of a Social Rental Program for elderly people; in addition, with the accentuation of population aging, the demand for new services and programs, besides access to housing, are necessary.