Overcoming Barriers to Livability for All Ages: Inclusivity Is the Key

Xue Zhang, Mildred E. Warner and Stephanie Firestone
Additional contact information
Xue Zhang: Regional Science, Cornell University, USA
Mildred E. Warner: City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, USA
Stephanie Firestone: Policy, Research, and International–PRI, AARP, USA

Urban Planning, 2019, vol. 4, issue 2, 31-42

Abstract: The rapid pace of population aging in cities around the world demands that planners design communities that are livable for people of all ages and abilities. In 2017, to assess progress toward this end, AARP and the International Division of the American Planning Association conducted a global survey of planners on their efforts to incorporate a livable-communityfor-all-ages approach into their work. The survey of 559 planners measured motivators, barriers, strategies for engagement and practices facilitating planners’ work on livable communities for all ages (LCA). Using the international survey, we analyze factors driving local governments’ actions to advance LCA, and factors driving outcomes incorporating a livablecommunity-for-all-ages approach in planning practices. We show how these differ between the US and non-US respondents, including how US suburbs and rural areas lag in actions toward LCA. Regression results show that local motivations such as awareness of substantial growth in older populations is a primary factor motivating local governments to take more actions. While physical design is a critical part of the solution, we find that facilitating practices and community engagement in the process are key to advancing planning for age-friendly communities. Additionally, communities that practice more traditional approaches to planning and have limited resources actually exhibit a higher level of LCA outcomes. This suggests that focusing on community engagement and facilitating practices could be a promising approach to incorporating an all age lens in planning practices.

Keywords: age-friendly community; aging; government; inclusive engagement; livability; planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1892 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v4:y:2019:i:2:p:31-42

DOI: 10.17645/up.v4i2.1892

Access Statistics for this article

Urban Planning is currently edited by Tiago Cardoso

More articles in Urban Planning from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().