http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3009

Modernity’s paradox: Fatter, sicker and sadder - Part 1
By Brendan Gleeson - posted Wednesday, February 09, 2005 Sign Up for free
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From  On Line Opinion

There is much hand wringing about the implications of population ageing.
Not a week passes it seems without a new report urging attention to the
issues arising from an older Australia. But what about our children? They
seem to have disappeared from public focus, only to return in bouts of wild
panic about abuse and various other catastrophes that occasionally touch
young lives.

We may be starting to prepare for an increase in older Australians. But are
we planning for a future Australia that will nurture children and youth?
Our pop demography debates have led us to obsess about a very partial view
of the future: one fixed on ageing baby boomer legions flocking to
seachange regions. The future will contain a far greater range of human
needs and interests than this simple picture would suggest. For a start, we
are, and will remain, a thoroughly urban society, with most of us living in
the suburbs of our principal metropolitan regions. Australians
overwhelmingly continue to prefer living in the sub regions of our main
cities... SNIP

 Brendan Gleeson is Professor of Urban Management and Policy and Director
of the Urban Research Program at the School for Environmental Planning at
Griffith University, Brisbane.