What is it about?
Japan is the worlds first/super ageing society, in which a majority of its populations are older. To meet the demands that caring for older people with illnesses such as dementia, Japan is adopting what are called intergenerational approaches, which involve bringing different generations of people together. The physical spaces where intergenerational approaches take place influence the care and support given to older people. In this paper we look at the role that the design of physical spaces play in influencing intergenerational care practice. We explore four examples of intergenerational care in Japan to look at how the spaces of these examples influenced the activities that took place in them. We found that designing open and flexible spaces which can easily be adapted was an important feature of intergenerational care practices. In addition, focusing on providing intergenerational community facilities helped people from different generations to interact. We argue that greater focus needs to be paid to looking at how intergenerational approaches are provided in community facilities. We also argue that spaces should be made open, flexible and adaptable so they can be used by different generations.