At the AGIT Conference, researchers, practitioners, and the industry experts talk about their papers on advancements, innovations, and applications in geoinformation and geospatial technologies. GIScience HeiGIT will present a paper about Silver Ways, a project to develop an empirically informed and validated routing system for older people. We will explore the process of developing the routing mechanism and demonstrate how our findings can inform urban policy and planning improvements in collaboration with local authorities. The age-friendly Silver Ways are used to create a 15-Minute Neighborhood Index, emphasizing neighborhoods where critical amenities are accessible within a short walk specifically along routes that are safe, comfortable, and convenient for older individuals.
The Silver Ways project is part of the Horizon Europe “Driving Urban Transition” framework. With empirical research in Mannheim, Uppsala and Kayseri, older participants share their walking routes and perceived barriers. These self-reported routes are enriched with geospatial information from OpenStreetMap vector data, satellite imagery, and street-level imagery metrics derived via deep learning, capturing factors older adults identify as most influential. We then use discrete choice models to quantify the relative importance of various route attributes in the travel decisions of older adults.
More information about Silver Ways: Silver Ways