For every person over-65, there will be just two compatriots aged between 20 and 65 1 . In such a greying society, our cities and towns will look quite different to now. Amsterdam city centre is likely to be a largely pedestrian zone, allowing for wider footpaths. Political pressure will have forced the monument conservation authority to relax its rules.
Large groups of older people in the city will have been obliged to remove thresholds, install stair lifts and knock through walls. The two universities in the capital will have been forced to merge because of the smaller inflow of new students.