1. Workshop B: Aging, shrinking regions and access to services
Moderator: Simin Davoudi
Chair: Michaela Gensheimer
Reporter: Didier Michal
ESPON Seminar
Evora, Nov. 2007

2. Key Socio-economic challenges
Shrinking workforce (11)
shortage of skilled labour
both high and low skilled labour is needed
Productivity ≠ immigration
Shrinking does not necessarily means decline in the long run
why do regions are attracting high or low skilled labour?
Late entry to and early exit from the labour market (2)
Squeeze of workforce particularly among higher socio-economic groups
Rising dependency ratio (1)
longer working hours, higher taxes
Late entry to (higher education) and early exist (early retirement) from the labour market

3. Key socio-economic challenges
Growing number of older people (0)
raising the cost of health care and pension
The ‘Ageing Europe’ (5)
putting pressure on the European social model and welfare provision
‘Grey’ voting power (2)
shifting public spending away from nurseries and schools to health care and retirement homes,
blocking reform to retirement age and pension schemes

4. Key socio-economic challenges
Social differentiation among older people (2)
poverty and isolation among some who mainly live in urban areas using distance care packages versus
luxury life among others living in large houses with ‘carer quarters’, in retirement destinations
Immigration (6)
both internal and external immigration (statistics not very performing)
response to demographic restructuring
increase in the cost of integration (employment, housing, crime, health care and education)
social and cultural tensions

5. Key territorial challenges
Differentiated patterns of demographic change (11)
east / west, centre / periphery, south / north, urban / rural divisions
countries with highest level of ageing population versus
countries with youngest population
Concentration of immigration from outside Europe in large and mainly capital cities (2)

6. Key territorial challenges
Different territorial destinations for intra-European migration (5)
affluent retirees moving from north to south and Mediterranean regions,
east European workers searching for job in western European countries

7. Key territorial challenges
Meso level territorial differentiation (6) metropolitanisation, depopulation and counter-urbanisation
Growing population in metropolitan areas both in western and eastern Europe versus
Depopulation of rural areas in eastern and western peripheries, central part of Germany, central and north Italy
Shrinking regions with declining basic services

8. Key territorial challenges
Micro level spatial segregation (0)
Affluent older people moving to rural areas with lower crime rates, good access to health services and pleasant climate versus
lower income older people remaining in urban areas

9. Key territorial challenges
Family policies (1)
Fertility (2)
Conditions for women (2)
Combination of natural evolution (total fertility rate) and migration (1)
Lower tier cities attractivity (1)
Balanced population settlement (1)
Problem of models to analyse decline (1)

10. conclusions
ESPON should give the evidence and let the decisions maker do their job
ESPON should be selective when choosing the research topics (geographical or thematic selectivity)
Topics have to be studied from the territorial point of view