This chapter provides a checklist of concrete actions that local and national governments can take to implement, scale up and replicate initiatives to build cities for all ages. It builds on the initiatives identified in Chapter 2 and a thorough review of existing guidance, standards and principles for growing old and ageing in cities and adapting cities to work for all ages more generally.
Cities for All Ages
OECD Urban Studies
Abstract
As seen in Chapter 2, national and local governments are implementing a wide range of initiatives within three main policy areas to make cities inclusive for all ages: fostering age-inclusive urban design and planning to improve access to key urban services; providing affordable and accessible housing tailored to age-based demand; and engaging young and older people as both consumers and workers. Many of these initiatives have already had a positive impact on residents’ lives. However, the effect of these initiatives can sometimes be limited if implemented ad hoc, at too small a scale, without structured evaluation or sufficient engagement of relevant stakeholders.
Based on the analysis of initiatives among local and national governments in the three policy areas of Chapter 2, this chapter presents a structured checklist of actions that governments at the national and local levels can adopt to help scale up these efforts to create age-inclusive cities. The checklist framework consists of three blocks of actions: strategy setting, resource development and stakeholder co-ordination (Figure 3.1).
The strategy setting block (Actions 1-3) distils the key aspects of various initiatives undertaken in cities and offers a structured approach within the policy areas discussed in Chapter 2.
The resource development block (Actions 4-6) aims to increase the capacity of governments to realise, implement, maintain and evaluate age-inclusive policies in order to make them more sustainable and effective over the long term.
The stakeholder co-ordination block (Actions 7-9) can help augment governments’ efforts by channelling the strengths of various actors, including other ministries and levels of government, the local community and city networks working on similar problems.
The checklist also draws on a wide range of material in the existing literature (see Annex 3.A) to provide a set of recommendations that can help create cities for all ages.
Action 1: Prioritise urban design and planning for inclusive, accessible and flexible public space
At all relevant government levels:
Develop mandatory accessibility norms for public transport and public-access buildings (e.g. presence of elevators, minimum size of room) to improve access for older adults, children in prams and mobility-impaired citizens of all ages.
At the local level:
Assess the potential of street designs like Superblocks, Slow Streets and car-free zones to increase opportunities for sociability and support safer and sustainable everyday mobility for children, older adults and the caregivers travelling with them, and evaluate impacts.
Develop urban planning guidelines that mainstream age-based needs and preferences (Box 3.1).
Care Blocks in Bogotá, Colombia
The city of Bogotá developed the Care Block model to better serve residents with caregiving responsibilities. This model helps make care services affordable and accessible: free professional care for children, the ageing and people with disabilities is provided in anchor buildings. These buildings have been strategically located within a 15-20-minute walk for all potential users.
Compact City policy in Japan
In Japan, the Compact City model has been identified as a way to improve the quality of life of senior citizens; the model has been implemented in cities across Japan since 2014 in response to ageing and an unprecedented decrease in population.
Source: OECD (2022[1]), Bogotá Care Blocks, https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/bogota-care-blocks/; Yoon, C. (2020[2]),“Between the ideal and reality of city resizing policy: Focused on 25 cases of compact city plans in Japan”, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030989; Takemura, N. (2012[3]), “Creating compact cities in a society with a declining and aging population”, https://doi.org/10.3143/geriatrics.49.701.
Action 2: Support age-based targeted housing solutions
At all relevant government levels:
Encourage the development of age-inclusive and diverse housing types through relevant regulations that establish standards and incentivise compliance and renovations (Box 3.2).
Develop mandatory accessibility norms for housing (e.g. presence of elevators, minimum size of room) to improve access for older adults, prams and mobility-impaired citizens of all ages.
Incentivise the development and management of diverse housing types (e.g. hostels, student-style co-housing, supportive housing for older adults), which can create construction jobs, support tourism and ensure that young workers and older adults can afford to live in the city.
Implement rightsizing policies to better optimise the housing stock for all ages, by communicating about benefits to incentivise residents to move to more adequate and accessible housing.
National-level building norms are an effective lever to foster age-inclusive living in cities. In France, new residential buildings are subject to accessibility obligations. The accessibility arrangements concern common areas and individual units, such as circulation and door widths, spatial organisation and equipment. The 2018 law on the evolution of housing, development and digital technology (ELAN Law) and its related decree established that 20% of ground-floor or elevator-serviced units must meet accessibility standards. The remaining units must be adaptable, meaning that a person in a wheelchair can gain access, move around the living room and use the restroom and that the rest of the unit can be made fully accessible through simple modifications. Moreover, a 2019 decree related to the ELAN Law lowered the requirement for an elevator: in buildings with more than two floors above or below the ground floor, a lift is mandatory.
To ensure a certain flexibility in the implementation of these regulations, the project contractor can propose other means than those listed in the technical decrees to meet accessibility objectives. These “equivalent-effect solutions” introduce flexibility and allow for technical innovation.
Source: Ministères Territoires Ecologie Logement (2024[4]), “L’accessibilité du logement”, https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/laccessibilite-du-logement.
Action 3: Facilitate private and third-sector solutions to deliver tailored services and employment opportunities for young and older adults
At all relevant government levels:
Develop programmes to encourage quality of life at work for older adults (e.g. training and reskilling programmes, encouraging mid-career job transitions).
Ensure older adults have access to training and upskilling opportunities relevant to the local labour market and respond to the changing skill requirements, especially green and digital skills.
Encourage and support local actors in the private and social sectors to design and deliver products and services that cater to residents in different age groups and can increase their quality of life, independence and health (Box 3.3). For instance, providing support in digitalisation, seed funding or other forms to local small and medium-sized enterprises can facilitate their ability to engage the “silver economy”1, while equivalent support for civil society organisations can help establish co-housing consortia and intergenerational care facilities.
At the local level:
Establish semi-public, semi-private entities to augment efforts by the public and private sectors where appropriate, e.g. economic development corporations, housing providers.
Foster partnerships with community members such as local businesses and universities to help cities identify the skills that older adults need, forge intergenerational knowledge exchanges, connect older adults to work opportunities and establish training completion certificates for skills required by firms.
Improving digital health solutions through the Barcelona Health Hub, Spain
The city of Barcelona, Spain, invested in the Barcelona Health Hub (BHH), a non-profit organisation that promotes digital health by connecting start‑ups, healthcare organisations, corporations and investors. The BHH fosters innovation in health technology for ageing populations, supporting solutions in areas such as telemedicine, remote monitoring and wellness programmes for seniors.
Fostering intergenerational housing and care solutions through universities and civil society
In Baltimore, United States, a non-profit organisation runs a home-sharing programme that provides affordable housing for low-income residents by connecting them to seniors who need help paying rent and moving around the house. Still in the United States, the University of California, Berkeley Retirement Center operates a programme called Home Match with the senior living non-profit organisation Front Porch, in which older people offer students a room in their home. New York University (NYU) runs a partnership with the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens’ Home Sharing Program, where adults 60 years of age or older living in the city can be matched with an NYU graduate student and offer them a spare room in exchange for a sense of community and providing occasional support around the house.
Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom has taken an inclusive approach to local employment and invests in adult skills
Greater Manchester’s Local Industrial Strategy and Good Employment Charter, both co-designed with local firms, non-profit organisations and citizens, help establish inclusive plans for good jobs, while the city’s Adult Education Budget has ensured that more than 29 000 residents are equipped with the right skills and knowledge for local jobs. Cities can go further to support older adults wishing to remain in the workforce by embedding an age component in these types of plans and initiatives, ensuring that older adults living longer lives and willing to work are able to do so.
Source: BHH (n.d.[5]), Explore the BHH Digital Health Ecosystem, https://barcelonahealthhub.com/en/ (accessed 26 September 2024); Holder, S. (2023[6]), “America is aging into a housing crisis for older adults”, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-07/high-costs-for-housing-and-care-cloud-retirement-for-us-older-adults (accessed on 26 August 2024); Goldberg, B. (2024[7]), “Intergenerational housing could help older adults combat loneliness”, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-28/senior-living-benefits-from-living-near-child-care-centers?cmpid=BBD082824_CITYLAB&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=240828&utm_campaign=citylabdaily (accessed on 29 August 2024); GMCA (n.d.[8]), Adult Skills Fund, https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/work-and-skills/adult-education-budget/ (accessed on 29 August 2024); GMCA (n.d.[9]), Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, https://www.gmgoodemploymentcharter.co.uk/ (accessed on 29 August 2024); GMCA (2019[10]), Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy, https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/economy/greater-manchester-s-local-industrial-strategy/ (accessed on 29 August 2024).
Action 4: Mobilise public and private financing to unlock investments and innovation to create age-inclusive cities
At all relevant government levels:
Facilitate partnerships between public and private sectors to mobilise financing for age‑inclusive initiatives (Box 3.4).
Create financial incentives for private companies to invest in age-inclusive innovations, such as tax breaks or subsidies for companies implementing accessibility measures.
Unlock the potential of land-based finance tools, such as developer obligations, to increase the supply of age-targeted housing.
At the local level:
Support social enterprises that focus on age-inclusive solutions or low-interest loans.
Encourage investment in age-inclusive urban planning projects through co-financing models, where local governments and private investors jointly fund infrastructure improvements that benefit all age groups, including accessible public transportation and public and green spaces.
In response to population ageing, the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has partnered with a private company to create sheltered housing units aimed at elderly residents who are capable of independent living but require assistance with daily activities. These apartments are designed to offer autonomy and privacy, with additional support services available such as home care, medical aid and emergency response systems.
A key example of this public-private-partnership approach is the 2016 development in the Šiška Dravlje district, which consisted of the construction of two buildings intended to provide sheltered housing for the elderly. The private partner had two years to prepare the project documentation, obtain a building permit, build the building and transfer the dwellings agreed upon to the public partner. The project involved constructing 54 sheltered apartments, covering a gross area of almost 4 500 square metres. The project was completed successfully, with all units sold in the same year. It also included outdoor parking spaces and improvements to the surrounding infrastructure.
The municipality of Ljubljana provided the land (4 045 square metres) for development and contributed EUR 1 153 900 (excluding value added tax) for the building rights and municipal costs. Furthermore, the public partner ensured future residents’ well-being by enabling shared access to a nearby park.
Source: Konjar, M. et al. (2018[11]), “Ensuring living condition for ageing population by public–private partnership (PPP)”, E3S Web of Conferences, Vol. 33, p. 03002, https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183303002.
Action 5: Promote capacity building for age-inclusive planning and policy making at all levels of government
At all relevant government levels:
Develop resources for public officials to self-evaluate the age-inclusiveness of their plans and policies as they develop or revise them.
Train public officials in certain skills and capacities, such as stakeholder engagement and data analysis, as well as age-specific specific issues, challenges and discriminations to limit bias (Box 3.5).
Formalise staffing, resources and/or cross-cutting approaches for age-inclusiveness within the public sector.
At the local level:
Invest in quality government (e.g. adherence to the rule of law, addressing corruption, high‑quality service delivery) at the regional and local levels to support gender equity and encourage family-friendly policies.
Training policy makers for age-inclusive urban planning: The Urban95 Academy
The Van Leer Foundation and the London School of Economics launched the Urban95 Academy, an executive education programme focused on training municipal leaders to better answer the needs of children and their caregivers in urban plans and policies. The programme includes three main components: the Vision and Analysis component trains participants in understanding the needs of children and caregivers to develop a baseline for public action. The Strategy and Delivery component focuses on delivering policies, services and spaces that answer these needs, in a way that is financially sustainable. Finally, the Leadership component trains public officials in raising awareness and creating a policy culture that supports the delivery of children- and childcare-inclusive cities.
Resources for cities to self-assess and monitor the inclusiveness of their policies
The International Transport Forum has developed a toolkit to help policy makers ensure their transport policies are inclusive. It is composed of three key resources:
The checklist includes self-assessment questions that support a better inclusion of gender considerations into a project. These questions cover a variety of topics relevant to different stages of the policy cycles. These topics include but are not limited to: gender diversity within the project team; assessment of potential impact on gender equality; use of gender-disaggregated data; dedication of specific project resources to gender inclusiveness; and consultation of users to ensure gender-inclusive outcomes.
The indicators suggest a list of quantitative indicators that are useful to assess gender equality based on best practices in travel surveys around the world.
Finally, the questionnaire offers a template to design surveys in a way that allows to understand gender inequalities as they relate to transport policy. Together, the indicators and questionnaire can help public authorities design their own surveys.
While this toolkit has been developed to assess the gender inclusiveness of transport projects, similar resources can be developed to tackle age-inclusiveness, in a variety of sectors beyond transport. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already published a checklist identifying the “essential features of age-friendly cities” to help cities easily identify areas where they could progress.
Investing in quality subnational government can reduce trade-offs between work and motherhood
Giannantoni and Rodríguez-Pose (2024[12]) show that European regions scoring higher on the European Quality of Government Index provide a more reliable environment for managing the career/motherhood dilemma often faced by women, while women living in regions with weaker government institutions are more constrained in both their career and childbearing options. Among 216 European Union (EU) regions studied, 10% improvement in the index significantly reduces the probability of women having to choose between career and motherhood.
Source: ITF (n.d.[13]), ITF Gender Analysis Toolkit for Transport Policies, https://gendertoolkit.itf-oecd.org/ (accessed 12 October 2024); WHO (2007[14]), Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Age-Friendly-Checklist-WHOedit.pdf; Giannantoni, C. and A. Rodríguez-Pose (2024[12]), “Regional government institutions and the capacity for women to reconcile career and motherhood”, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbae041.
Action 6: Produce and analyse age-specific evidence to evaluate place-based needs
At all relevant government levels:
Disaggregate national and local data by population subgroups – especially but not only age groups, as these groups are not homogeneous, and experiences are also shaped by other factors such as gender or income level – to gather more detailed information on these population segments and support more targeted policies.
Adapt questions in existing national and local surveys to better capture the experiences of children, older adults and those who care for them to improve the design and evaluation of local public policies. For example, cities can widen definitions of trip purposes in travel surveys to allow for a more refined understanding of non-work-related trips (Box 3.6), or collect data on the accessibility of public space (e.g. proportion of public-access buildings and public transportation accessible by wheelchair, proportion of priority parking spaces).
Explore the use of digital twins (virtual replication models of cities) to simulate how different age groups interact with the built environment, helping test and refine policies before implementation.
At the local level:
Develop or use qualitative methods to understand the needs of specific groups, such as child-led debates or city walks with specific age groups.
Better measuring “mobility of care”
The concept of “mobility of care”, developed by Ines Sánchez de Madariaga, offers a critical assessment of current travel survey practices and encourages practitioners to better evaluate the mobility practices, needs and constraints associated with care activities, i.e. “the mostly unpaid work carried out by adults responsible for children and other non-physically autonomous individuals, as well those activities needed for the upkeep of the home.”
Mobility of care encompasses, but does not need to be reduced to, the following trip purposes: escorting children to school or extracurricular activities; visiting and escorting sick and older adult relatives; public administration errands; non-leisure shopping including for dependent relatives. The concept of mobility of care encourages the consideration of a wider variety of activities that structure daily lives for different groups, while transport surveys tend to be focused on the experience of commuters.
The WHO guide to measuring the age-friendliness of cities
The WHO has developed a guide to help public authorities develop monitoring frameworks to measure the age-friendliness of their cities. This guide identifies a set of core indicators, which consist of the most important, minimal set of indicators that should be monitored to assess the age-friendliness of cities.
Core indicators are organised into three categories: equity indicators are used to assess the differences in outcomes faced by older residents compared to the population average; accessibility of the physical environment indicators allow to measure walkability, access to different transport modes, accessibility of public space or affordability of housing; inclusiveness of the social environment indicators allow monitoring of the attitudes towards older people, their integration in society through volunteer activity or paid employment, their engagement in socio-cultural activities, their participation in local decision making, the availability of health and social services or their economic security.
Source: de Madariaga, I. and E. Zucchini (2019[15]), “Measuring mobilities of care, a challenge for transport agendas”, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05042-9_7; Sánchez de Madariaga, I. (2013[16]), “From women in transport to genderin transport: Challenging conceptual frameworks for improved policymaking”, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 67, pp. 43-66; WHO (2015[17]), Measuring the Age-Friendliness of Cities: A Guide to Using Core Indicators, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241509695.
Action 7: Engage all age groups in urban planning design and evaluation processes
At all relevant government levels:
Engage specific age and population groups (e.g. children, older adults, people who care for these two age groups) in developing urban policies and plans to better account for their experiences and demands related to their environment.
Reach out to and empower schools and grassroots associations so they can effectively engage with consultation processes (Box 3.7).
At the local level:
Continue consultation throughout the evaluation process so policy makers are held accountable by resident groups.
Provide avenues for stakeholder groups to initiate or propose new ideas that can be co‑developed with city administrations.
Pursue inter-municipal co-ordination among local administrations within functional urban areas for more integrated services, e.g. improving accessibility through shared design standards of public transport across municipalities.
Co-designing pilot programmes and accompanied walks with specific groups, such as older adults and their caregivers, have been invaluable tools when designing age-friendly public spaces in Copenhagen, Denmark, and dementia-friendly neighbourhoods in Singapore, helping identify specific areas and means to provide clearer signage, more intuitive footpaths, better lighting and increased visibility, and flexible design of public spaces like benches and bus stops to allow for a variety of uses.
Initiatives like Green Community Schoolyards in New York City, United States, where a community-based organisation used co-design with children to transform the blank asphalt recreational spaces of public schools into safe, colourful, stimulating environments for children, demonstrate how co-designing urban space can make cities more welcoming for different age groups, empowering local stakeholders to innovate and implement programmes that sufficiently respond to the changing needs of residents.
Source: Shin, J. and A. Kustar (2024[18]), “A community program is transforming New York schoolyards into climate-resilient spaces”, https://www.wri.org/insights/new-york-city-climate-resilient-schoolyards?apcid=0065832f0c41868dfb593800&utm_campaign=wridigest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wridigest-2024-09-11 (accessed on 13 September 2024); Dementia Hub SG (n.d.[19]), Dementia-Friendly Neighbourhoods, https://www.dementiahub.sg/i-want-to-play-a-part/dementia-friendly-neighbourhoods/; Carroll, S. and K. Nørtoft (2022[20]), “Co-designing age-friendly neighborhood spaces in Copenhagen: Starting with an age-friendly co-design process”, https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture2020012.
Action 8: Mainstreaming age-inclusive policy making through better co-ordination across policy sectors and between all levels of government
At all relevant government levels:
Identify barriers to age-inclusive cities at all levels of governments (national, regional, municipal) and in all sectors (housing, transport, social policy, etc.) to develop a structured approach to age-inclusive policies (Box 3.8). This would imply co‑operation between all relevant ministries, local authorities, representatives from relevant civil society organisations (e.g. those dedicated to child welfare, urban planning associations), and the private sector (e.g. chambers of commerce, developers).
Foster horizontal, cross-sectoral collaboration at the national level to develop the right conditions for creating age-inclusive cities at all levels. For instance, providing better care at the local level is only possible if labour shortages in the care sector are addressed through economic policy and social policy plans for the provision of affordable care. An inter-ministerial committee could steer this change in policy culture.
Foster effective collaboration across levels of government (national, regional, metropolitan, municipal) to ensure the complementarity of skills and resources dedicated to age‑inclusive urban planning.
Integrating childcare into national and local policy making in Japan
In 2023, former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a new childcare policy approach to encourage policy makers in all sectors and at all levels to take unprecedented steps in tackling Japan’s declining birthrate. All ministries have been encouraged to integrate the issue of childcare support within their policy activities. A new national Children and Families Agency has also been created. In addition to implementing and monitoring the national childcare policy, this agency will work with local governments to identify relevant policies that could be supported at the national level (e.g. free school lunches).
Creating a guide to better include gender in urban planning in Vienna
The city of Vienna, Austria, has been embedding the principles of gender-sensitive urban planning to create more suitable urban structures for all citizens for more than three decades. In 2013, the Gender Mainstreaming in Urban Planning Manual contains a wide range of projects demonstrating the implementation of gender-sensitive planning and instruments in the city of Vienna. For instance, it recommends ensuring that gender-relevant criteria are embedded in tender documents for urban design competitions or implementing analyses that capture public spaces’ spatial, functional and social structures.
Source: City of Vienna (2013[21]), Gender Mainstreaming in Urban Planning and Urban Development, https://www.digital.wienbibliothek.at/download/pdf; Benoza, K. (2023[22]), “Japan announces outline of ’unprecedented’ child care policy”, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/31/national/child-care-measures-draft/.
Action 9: Share good practices through networks of cities and pilot proven ideas
At the local level:
Participate in networks of cities to learn from the experiences of others and share one’s own best practices (Box 3.9). Peer-to-peer supports policy innovation for more age‑inclusive cities.
Pilot an age-friendly policy initiative or programme considered successful in another city and evaluate whether it is effective in the local context.
The WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities
The WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities was established in 2010 to connect cities, communities and organisations worldwide with the common vision of making their community a great place to grow old. It currently includes 1 606 cities and communities in 53 countries, covering over 330 million people worldwide. As a response to global population ageing and rapid urbanisation, the network focuses on action at the local level that fosters the full participation of older people in community life and promotes healthy and active ageing. It seeks to promote age-friendly cities and communities by sharing examples of what can be done and how through its online database, connecting cities and communities worldwide to facilitate the exchange of best practices, and supporting the discovery of innovative and evidence-based solutions. The database of age-friendly practices is a particularly useful tool that can be sorted and filtered by country and city/community name, governmental level of implementation, sector, population size, outcome type and more.
The Start with Children initiative
In 2024, the Start with Children initiative met for the first time in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, bringing together mayors from across Europe as well as over 650 urban planners, experts, non-government organisations and private sector representatives to discuss how to make cities more liveable for children, with a focus on universal design that argues “a city good for children is a city good for everyone”. A group of 70 experts are currently developing a 12-step plan for how Bratislava can reshape and redesign its streets within a placed-based concept of the city’s identity, accessibility, development plans and environmental conditions. The step-by-step scheme aims to cover all spheres of life in the city and make it inclusive for every inhabitant, potentially serving as a model for other cities to become child-friendly.
Source: WHO (n.d.[23]), About the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/who-network/?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&utm_campaign=c1976ed61a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_05_04_10_48&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10959edeb5-c1976ed61a-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D (accessed on 23 August 2024); WHO (n.d.[24]), Global Database of Age-friendly Practices, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/afp/; EIT Urban Mobility (2024[25]), “Start with Children initiative celebrates child-friendly cities in Bratislava”, https://www.eiturbanmobility.eu/start-with-children-initiative-celebrates-child-friendly-cities-in-bratislava/ (accessed on 23 August 2024).
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[28] UNICEF (2022), Guidance Note: The Child Friendly Cities Initiative, United Nations Children’s Fund, https://www.unicef.org/media/133746/file/Child-Friendly_Cities_Initiative_Guidance_Note.pdf.
[27] UNICEF (2018), Shaping Urbanization for Children, United Nations Children’s Fund, https://doi.org/10.18356/d7b3fa02-en.
[17] WHO (2015), Measuring the Age-Friendliness of Cities: A Guide to Using Core Indicators, World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241509695.
[14] WHO (2007), Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities, World Health Organization, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Age-Friendly-Checklist-WHOedit.pdf.
[23] WHO (n.d.), About the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, World Health Organization, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/who-network/?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&utm_campaign=c1976ed61a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_05_04_10_48&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10959edeb5-c1976ed61a-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D (accessed on 23 August 2024).
[24] WHO (n.d.), Global Database of Age-friendly Practices, World Health Organization, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/afp/.
[29] World Bank (2022), Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities, World Bank, Washington, DC, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/age-ready-cities.
[2] Yoon, C. (2020), “Between the ideal and reality of city resizing policy: Focused on 25 cases of compact city plans in Japan”, Sustainability, Vol. 12/3, p. 989, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030989.
Over the past few decades, several international organisations have produced numerous reports, frameworks, checklists and guidelines to guide and support national and subnational governments in creating more inclusive cities along the dimension of age. Initiatives developed by the OECD, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the WHO and the World Bank (Annex Box 3.A.1.) share a common ambition of fostering more inclusive urban environments for certain age groups, with a specific focus on two categories: children/youth and older adults (OECD, 2024[26]; WHO, 2007[14]; 2015[17]; UNICEF, 2018[27]; 2022[28]; World Bank, 2022[29]).
These initiatives emphasise the development of cities where children and/or older adults are actively included in decision-making processes and frequently focus on accessibility, equity and affordability in relation to outdoor space, the built environment, transport, housing, social participation and health services. Although these initiatives are principally intended to address either the needs of children/youth or older adults, they use a similar analytical approach aimed at increasing accessibility of public and private spaces, ensuring that specific age groups are included in shaping local urban public policies and that provision of public services meet their needs. These approaches can be adapted, expanded and combined to address the needs of additional age groups, including small children, teenagers, youth, working-age adults including (but not only) parents and those caring for ageing parents, and older adults, identify high-impact actions that benefit multiple age groups simultaneously and incorporate the updated urban context in the wake of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Several resources exist to help create more accessible and enjoyable cities for specific age groups, namely children and the ageing. While these resources differ in function, level of government and scope, they are crucial parts of the growing body of work dedicated to creating cities for all ages.
OECD
The OECD Youth Policy Toolkit supports the implementation and dissemination of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People (hereafter the “OECD Youth Recommendation”), which was adopted in June 2022 by all OECD member countries.
The pillars of the toolkit build on comparative evidence, benchmarks and good practices on effective governance arrangements for youth-responsive policies and services and promoting intergenerational justice across the OECD, as presented in OECD country reviews on youth governance and the 2020 report Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice: Fit for All Generations?.
The OECD Youth Recommendation promotes a government-wide strategy to improve youth measures and outcomes in all relevant policy areas, including employment, entrepreneurship, education and social policies, as well as civic engagement and public governance.
United Nations
The United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991) places an emphasis on independence, dignity, self-fulfilment, participation and care of older adults.
The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002) promotes older persons and development, advancing health and well-being into old age and ensuring enabling and supportive environments.
The UNICEF Handbook on Child-responsive Urban Planning (2018) aims to create a safer, more inclusive environment for children growing up in cities.
The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (2022) is a UNICEF-led platform that supports cities in their efforts to become child-friendly and achieve results for children in their territories.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme and UNICEF Child-Responsive Urban Policies, Laws and Standards: A Guidance (2023) is designed to help mainstream children’s rights in urban policies and legislation to build more sustainable and inclusive urban spaces.
World Health Organization
The Checklist of Essential Features of Age-friendly Cities (2007[14]) includes features for cities to assess their age-friendliness and implementation progress, specifically targeting older adults.
The Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities was established by the WHO in 2010 to help stakeholders share best practices in response to global ageing and rapid urbanisation.
The Dublin Declaration on Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in Europe (2013) was signed by EU mayors and senior political representatives of EU cities, municipalities, communities endorsing the principles and actions of the WHO strategy and action plan for healthy ageing in Europe.
Measuring the Age-friendliness of Cities: A Guide to Using Core Indicators (2015[17]) presents indicators as part of age-friendly city policies that can enable policy makers to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of their investments and foster further political and social commitments.
National Programmes for Age-friendly Cities and Communities: A Guide (2023) presents a framework for implementing national programmes for age-friendly cities and communities. It provides direction to actors in various sectors for establishing and sustaining programmes that foster healthy ageing and create better places in which to grow older.
World Bank
The World Bank report Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities (2022) is dedicated to helping cities prepare for the dual trends of ageing and urbanisation. It suggests that cities can start by focusing on the areas of universal design, housing solutions, multigenerational spaces, physical mobility, accessible technology and efficient spatial forms.
Source: OECD (2024[26]), OECD Youth Policy Toolkit, https://doi.org/10.1787/74b6f8f3-en; WHO (2007[14]), Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Age-Friendly-Checklist-WHOedit.pdf; WHO (2015[17]), Measuring the Age-Friendliness of Cities: A Guide to Using Core Indicators, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241509695; UNICEF (2018[27]) , Shaping Urbanization for Children, https://doi.org/10.18356/d7b3fa02-en; UNICEF (2022[28]), Guidance Note: The Child Friendly Cities Initiative, https://www.unicef.org/media/133746/file/Child-Friendly_Cities_Initiative_Guidance_Note.pdf; World Bank (2022[29]), Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/age-ready-cities; WHO (n.d.[24]), Global Database of Age-friendly Practices, https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/afp/.
One fundamental principle for creating cities for all ages emerging in OECD, UNICEF, WHO and World Bank frameworks (OECD, 2024[26]; UNICEF, 2018[27]; World Bank, 2022[29]; WHO, 2015[17]) is improving accessibility, whether in terms of urban spaces, housing, public transport, public areas, playgrounds for children, culture or job opportunities. This entails ensuring that public and private stakeholders, including national and local governments, private enterprises and developers, make public transportation systems and public spaces such as streets, sidewalks and parks fully accessible, particularly for individuals with reduced mobility, while also guaranteeing safety for everyone, including children.
A second condition in these frameworks to create cities for all ages is the provision of public services such as transport, affordable housing, healthcare, and water and waste management to ensure they meet residents’ needs regardless of age. Existing toolkits stress the need to ensure that children thrive under optimal conditions, that youth have better opportunities and older adults enjoy a decent quality of life. Actions include modifying street design to encourage active mobility among children, thereby reducing the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases; locating schools, libraries and health centres in residential areas or improving their connectivity to ensure accessibility for all age groups; developing playgrounds and child-friendly public and green spaces to increase physical activity and facilitate interaction across generations; and investing in the labour skills, social inclusion and well-being of young people (OECD, 2024[26]; UNICEF, 2018[27]; World Bank, 2022[29]).
Another key condition in these three frameworks is the inclusion of children, youth and older adults in public policy deliberations and decision-making processes. Mechanisms for consultation, either newly established or integrated into existing systems, should enable residents of all ages to voice their age‑specific needs and contribute to shaping public policies, particularly concerning the organisation and evolution of infrastructure, public spaces, commerce and housing in their cities. Age-inclusive cities are distinguished by their ability to gather and incorporate the lived experiences of residents at different stages of their lifecycle, perhaps especially children who are unable to vote. Engaging stakeholders at various levels of granularity, including via representatives on advisory boards and civil society organisations representing certain age groups, as well as direct consultation of residents via co-design, participatory budgeting and feedback surveys, empowers residents of all ages to become active participants in urban development rather than passive recipients, thereby enhancing legitimacy and ensuring that policies and designs reflect the diverse needs of urban populations. Ensuring that children are treated as active stakeholders in urban development sometimes necessitates specific adaptations. For instance, children’s participation can take three main forms: consultative (e.g. focus groups with children), collaborative (e.g. identification of relevant issues by children) and child-led (e.g. children organising and moderating discussions on urban planning). These processes need to be adapted to the legal context of each city (e.g. within the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation includes specific provisions for collecting data about children below the age of 16).
Beyond these three primary conditions, the WHO has also developed resources that allow individuals and public officials to evaluate and measure how inclusive their city is of older adults. The Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities (WHO, 2007[14]) offers an extensive list of actions that can be taken to make a city age-friendly across sectors such as the built environment, transportation, housing, social participation, civic engagement, communication and community and health services. Meanwhile, Measuring the Age-Friendliness of Cities: A Guide to Using Core Indicators (WHO, 2015[17]) encourages cities to use age-disaggregated data and presents numerous indicators (e.g. the proportion of new and existing public spaces and buildings that are fully wheelchair accessible) to assess the outcomes of their policies. The WHO has also developed the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, established in 2010 to connect cities, communities and organisations worldwide with the common vision of making their community a great place to grow old in response to global population ageing and rapid urbanisation (WHO, n.d.[24]).
While these resources have comprehensively analysed the needs of children, youth and older adults and proposed valuable policy directives to support national and subnational governments in improving age‑friendliness, several principles can build on this work to advance the creation of cities for all ages.
Governments can prioritise the identification, design and implementation of policies and initiatives that can support multiple age groups at once. While many policies are needed to support each age group and its specific needs, many other policies are mutually beneficial. For instance, safer sidewalks and pedestrian paths do not only help increase the activeness and autonomy of older adults, but can also support independent mobility among children, which in turn can help reduce time parents spend escorting children. Other initiatives, such as “no-step” design of public spaces and transport stations, colourful and easy-to-read street signage, and extended hours for green and exercise spaces, can simultaneously support the various needs of children, teenagers, parents and older adults. The potential to maximise impact, foster community through shared spaces and engender intergenerational benefits could be missed by narrowly targeting the needs of specific age groups, and may prevent opportunities to create cohesive urban environments where all age groups can engage together.
Guidelines can also strive to acknowledge diverse contexts of cities, such as size, geography, governance structure, industry or trends in growth or shrinking, which may render certain policies more relevant than others. For instance, land-based finance tools such as developer obligations and inclusionary zoning may be effectively creating more housing for older adults or nurseries for children in cities with high property demand but less so in cities with very low demand and declining property prices. In a city with steep hills, cable cars may be a cost-effective solution to improving mobility and accessibility among older adults, while flatter cities may instead prioritise improvements to pedestrian infrastructure and bus systems. While it is not possible to tailor age-based policies for every context that addresses every factor, some typologies can be developed to categorise cities based on their primary characteristics or challenges.
Cities can also better engage the private sector to help meet the needs and preferences of different age groups, especially when there is a gap in resources, capacity or expertise. By investing in, incentivising and promoting local firms that produce goods or provide services for specific age groups, cities can help meet their specific preferences and needs relating to healthcare, entertainment or education, which can both increase residents’ quality of life and reduce strain on public resources. For example, encouraging use of e-bikes and other active transport modes can both engage silver economy spending and promote physical activity of older adults, which can increase health and thus alleviate healthcare demand.
While existing policy resources have explored the integration of technological solutions to make cities more age-inclusive, few concrete recommendations have been developed in this area. Incorporating technology into policy and decision making to create cities for all ages, including geofencing2, on-demand and teleservices, digitalisation and online voting can each help enhance accessibility and provide valuable data for monitoring and evaluating the urban environment, which can support improvements to efforts.
← 1. The “silver economy” refers to the concept of providing tailored goods and services to older adults based on their specific needs and preferences.
← 2. Geofencing refers to the use of GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area.