Justices rely on the New Map of Life in housing discrimination decision.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled that a residential apartment building cannot use its lack of accessibility to pressure older residents into leaving their homes, in a June 2026 decision that draws heavily on the New Map of Life report by the Stanford Center on Longevity.

The case centered on “Patricia and Rafael,” described as an elderly couple living on the fifth floor of a condominium lacking an elevator in the city of Bucaramanga. As their mobility declined, the couple asked the building management to make the property accessible. According to the court, the management association responded that if the building no longer suited the couple’s needs, they should move elsewhere.

On June 18, the court rejected that reasoning, ruling that inaccessible environments cannot be used to push older people out of their own homes or to undermine their autonomy and dignity. Notably, in the Court’s decision, the justices cited the premise of SCL’s New Map of Life (El Nuevo Mapa de la Vida), published in 2022, that institutions, policies and cultural norms built for a world of shorter lifespans are “no longer up to the task” considering current demographic realities. The Court further cited the New Map of Life to support the broader principle that institutions designed for shorter lives must adapt to a long-lived society — rather than forcing older adults to absorb the consequences of that failure themselves.  

The Court framed the case as touching a “common horizon” that all people eventually face, ruling that in refusing to accommodate the needs of residents on the fifth floor, “an aging country looks at itself.” The ruling noted that Colombia’s population is aging rapidly: people over 60 made up 13.9 percent of the population in 2021, in line with a global trend that will see the number of people 60 and older projected to grow from roughly 1 billion in 2019 to 2.1 billion by 2050.

While not directly comparable to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Colombia Constitutional Court is the country’s highest authority on constitutional matters such as the right to accessible housing.  

“The desire to age in place is widespread and increasing. However, it involves solving a surprisingly complex set of challenges and a range of stakeholders beyond homeowners and renters, including landlords, governments, health insurers and family members,” says Laura L. Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. “The Colombia Constitutional Court’s ruling reflects the critical longevity perspective outlined in the New Map of Life report that calls for systemic solutions.”