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The first chapter provides an introduction to the book. It starts with sketching the background for developing age-friendly cities and communities. It then presents the aims and key research questions of the Volume as well as the origins and structure of the book.

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the contributing factors which have led to the development of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC). It focuses on the influence of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) AFCC model, and explores a number of issues associated with the implementation of age-friendly policies and initiatives. The chapter further locates discussions about AFCC in the context of theoretical debates within environmental gerontology, emphasising the importance of such perspectives and related disciplines in advancing knowledge about ‘what works’ in respect of age-friendly interventions.

Chapter 3 places the debate about AFCCs within a sociological context and explore the links between ‘community’ on the one side, and the idea of ‘age-friendliness’ on the other. The chapter draws upon a range of theoretical perspectives in sociological and community studies to assess current pressures facing communities, especially those linked with neighbourhood inequalities and the impact of globalisation. It concludes by discussing strategies for strengthening the community dimension of AFCCs and develops key principles for a critical social policy strategy which promotes age-friendliness.

Chapter 4 argues for a greater awareness and understanding of how macro-level developments, such as gentrification and transnational migration, influence the creation of AFCCs. It identifies two key challenges which limit the success and effectiveness of both age-friendly initiatives and the scholarly field of environmental gerontology: first, microfication, or the tendency to focus on immediate aspects of everyday life while overlooking broader, overarching aspects of the social context that define and set key parameters of daily experience; and second, erasure, referring to the issue that certain groups of people remain ‘unseen’ in policy, research, or institutional practices. Remedying the limiting effects of these tendencies will be essential to increase the value and effectiveness of both of these enterprises, the authors conclude.

Chapter 5 examines the impact of gentrification processes in Berlin, Germany, on the distribution of older people across the city as well as the everyday experiences of ageing in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The chapter concludes with an overview of developments in the context of political processes, where urban transformation driven by economic interests generates growing conflict and contradiction with the needs of an ageing and increasingly less affluent population.

Chapter 6 addresses the question of how an age-friendly urban environment can support frail older people to ‘age in place’. To address this issue, the chapter presents findings from a study which assessed the value of an ‘Active Caring Community’ project in supporting frail older adults living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Brussels, Belgium. The project was aimed at creating a community which supports the process of ageing in place; where residents of the community know and help each other; where meeting opportunities are developed; and where individuals and their informal caregivers receive care and support from motivated professionals. The authors highlight the importance of the social dimension of the environment, and discuss a range of related opportunities and constraints which may affect older people’s frailty.

Chapter 7 provides a comprehensive overview of age-friendly approaches and developments in Hong Kong. The chapter first considers the possibilities of learning lessons from other large Asia-Pacific cities, including those in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore and China, in terms of developing AFCCs. It then reviews a range of initiatives in Hong Kong, focusing in particular on those concerned with the domains of social participation and those involving housing and accommodation initiatives. The chapter concludes by discussing some of the positive achievements of the approach and some of the negative factors that might hinder future achievement of age-friendliness locally, including the pressing issue of elderly poverty in a rich city.

Chapter 8 examines the dynamics of the implementation process of an age-friendly county programme in one of the participating counties in Ireland, County Fingal. The chapter integrates the views of local, national and international stakeholders to explore the complex interplay of forces at these various levels that have influenced the development and impact of Fingal’s local programme. Findings from empirical research are used to explore the key stakeholders’ motivations and actions that were influential in developing and implementing the programme, and the attitudes, understandings and actions of these same stakeholders that underpin, and are reflected in, the processes established to involve older people in the programme. The chapter concludes by highlighting key issues that need to be addressed to enhance the potential impact of age-friendly community programmes on older adults’ lives.

Chapter 9 focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing age-friendly approaches in Australia. In this chapter, Hal Kendig, Cathy Gong and Lisa Cannon review the evolution of Australia’s ageing population, including its increasing diversity, and consider evidence on the liveability of Australian cities, especially for disadvantaged older people. The chapter provides a review of AFCC initiatives comparing Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra in a State and national context. It concludes with a critical assessment of both challenges and achievements associated with age-friendly work, and suggests a number of ways forward for developing and evaluating the AFCC approach in Australia.

Chapter 10 explores what it means to use a ‘capability’ approach to designing an age-friendly city, including its potential for offering new ways of producing and occupying physical and social environments that respond directly to the lived experiences of older people. Drawing on a interdisciplinary community engaged research/urban design project in Manchester, UK, the chapter examines the applicability of AFCC design guidance within a specific urban neighbourhood, and explores how the process of discovering and sharing information about the lived experience of older residents translates into the development and implementation of age-friendly activities focused around urban design.

Chapter 11 identifies new and creative ways in which architects, artists and designers might be drawn into debates around age-friendly urban practice. The chapter describes the way in which current understandings of age-friendly design are limited and how an emerging field of socially engaged design practice can be harnessed to reinvigorate the terms of age-friendly debate and practice – drawing a new generation of designers into conversation with age-friendly policy. By redefining what we mean by age-friendly design, it becomes possible, this chapter argues, to expand and invigorate the field of age-friendly practice, enabling creative practitioners to engage with and creatively inform age-friendly policymaking.

Chapter 12 charts the evolution of the Age-Friendly Manchester programme and, more broadly, explores how the UK government’s ageing policies and strategies have developed since the late 1990s, highlighting four distinctive periods of nationally led activity relating to older people. It goes on to consider how the subsequent development of the age-friendly approach in Manchester has enabled a range of actors, notably local government agencies, to develop ageing programmes in the absence of national leadership. It discusses the City’s involvement in expanding its programme into an ambitious city-regional approach to age-friendly urban development, the first of its kind in the UK. The chapter demonstrates the potential for stimulating age-friendly initiatives at a local and regional level whilst at the same time highlighting the pressures facing urban authorities at a time of economic austerity.

Chapter 13 tests the inclusivity of age-friendliness for the lives of older people with sight loss living within English urban and rural communities. The chapter presents findings from an in-depth study with diverse groups of older people with vision impairment to consider how their needs and aspirations can be, or are being met in relation to the development of age-friendly cities and communities. The study identifies transport and the built environment as two important areas for vision impaired older people, emphasising the significance of more inclusive design, including assistive technology and accessible street design, in facilitating social inclusion. In order to move AFCCs policies forward, the authors conclude, the approach requires recognition of the heterogeneity of the ageing population and the importance of involving people in co-design and co-production of living spaces.

Chapter 14 present a 10 point ‘Manifesto for Change’, drawing upon arguments and perspectives developed by the contributors to this book. Despite the expansion of the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities, the chapter argues, challenges remain in responding to the growth of inequality and the impact of economic austerity on policies targeted at older people. Given this context, it becomes especially important to develop a framework for action which strengthens commitment to the primary goal of making environments responsive to the diverse needs of people as they age. The aim of the manifesto is to sharpen debate in the age-friendly field as well as encourage new approaches amongst the various stakeholders, including urban planners, community developers, health and social care professionals, policy-makers, NGOs, voluntary workers, and not least, older people themselves.

As a means of strengthening older people’s environmental relationships the age-friendly concept has been applied to communities, cities and larger regions. In the current economic climate, however, enhancing the ageing in place experience is a substantial challenge. The impact of austerity on such experiences has not been considered. There are also questions on how the diversity of people and place and community change intersect to alter the meaning of ageing in place, and how social policy can support such complex interconnections between individuals and place. This chapter explores older people’s relationship with place in the context of policy driven austerity, the economic recession, and the pursuit of age-friendly communities. The chapter demonstrates the worth of exploring how cultural contexts can shape the relationship of such factors. As one of the principle sites of the age-friendly movement, and as a well-documented location of economic recession and austerity, Ireland holds particular relevance to international jurisdictions.