Age-Friendly Community Development and Urban Policy
Summary
Global demographic shifts towards older populations have prompted a re-examination of urban design, planning and policy through the lens of age-friendliness. The age-friendly agenda seeks to create environments that support health, independence and social participation across the life course. Central to this approach is the integration of physical infrastructure—such as accessible housing, public transport and open spaces—with social dimensions including civic engagement, respect and inclusion. Urban policy now increasingly embraces multi-sectoral collaboration, drawing on health, housing, transport, social services and technology to foster “aging in place” and sustainable neighbourhoods. Frameworks such as the World Health Organization’s eight-domain model provide practical guidance, from outdoor environments and buildings to community support and health services. Recent scholarship highlights the need for robust evaluation tools, inclusive governance, and alignment with wider agendas—sustainability, smart cities and public health—to ensure that age-friendly initiatives deliver measurable benefits and equity across diverse urban contexts.
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Age-Friendly Community Development and Urban Policy publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in age-friendly community development and urban policy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Age-friendly city: An urban area designed and governed to optimise health, participation and security for older residents across multiple domains.
Active ageing: The process of maximising opportunities for health, participation and security to enhance quality of life as people age.
Built environment: The human-made surroundings—buildings, public spaces, transport infrastructure—that influence community wellbeing and accessibility.
Ageing in place: The ability of individuals to remain living in their own homes and communities safely, independently and comfortably as they age.
References
- Unveiling the experienced age-friendliness of older people in Bucharest: A comprehensive study using the validated Romanian age-friendly cities and communities questionnaire and cluster analysis. Habitat International (2024).
- Ten questions concerning age-friendly cities and communities and the built environment. Building and Environment (2021).
- Developing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: Eleven Case Studies from around the World. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020).
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