The supportive role of urban spaces in active aging is explored on a
world scale in this unique resource, using the WHO's Age-Friendly Cities
and Community model. Case studies from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Hong
Kong, and elsewhere demonstrate how the model translates to fit diverse
social, political, and economic realities across cultures and
continents, ways age-friendly programs promote senior empowerment, and
how their value can be effectively assessed. Age-friendly criteria for
communities are defined and critiqued while extensive empirical data
describe challenges as they affect elders globally and how environmental
support can help meet them. These chapters offer age-friendly cities as
a corrective to the overemphasis on the medical aspects of elders'
lives, and should inspire new research, practice, and public policy.
Included in the coverage:
- A critical review of the WHO Age-Friendly Cities Methodology and its
implementation.
- Seniors' perspectives on age-friendly communities.
- The implementation of age-friendly cities in three districts of
Argentina.
- Age-friendly New York City: a case study.
- Toward an age-friendly European Union.
- Age-friendliness, childhood, and dementia: toward generationally
intelligent environments.
With its balance of attention to universal and culture-specific
concerns, Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in International
Comparison will be of particular interest to sociologists,
gerontologists, and policymakers.
"Given the rapid adoption of the age-friendly perspective, following
its development by the World Health Organization, the critical
assessment offered in this volume is especially welcome".
Professor Chris Phillipson, University of Manchester
