Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in International Comparison

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