Activity-Friendly Built Environments in a Super-Aged Society, Japan: Current Challenges and toward a Research Agenda

Mohammad Javad Koohsari, Tomoki Nakaya and Koichiro Oka
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Mohammad Javad Koohsari: Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama 359-1192, Japan
Tomoki Nakaya: Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai City 980-0845, Japan
Koichiro Oka: Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama 359-1192, Japan

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-9

Abstract: There is a growing recognition of the role of built environment attributes, such as streets, shops, greenways, parks, and public transportation stations, in supporting people’s active behaviors. In particular, surrounding built environments may have an important role in supporting healthy active aging. Nevertheless, little is known about how built environments may influence active lifestyles in “super-aged societies”. More robust evidence-based research is needed to identify how where people live influences their active behaviors, and how to build beneficial space in the context of super-aged societies. This evidence will also be informative for the broader international context, where having an aging society will be the inevitable future. This commentary sought to move this research agenda forward by identifying key research issues and challenges in examining the role of built environment attributes on active behaviors in Japan, which is experiencing the longest healthy life expectancy, but rapid “super-aging”, with the highest proportion of old adults among its population in the world.

Keywords: urban design; active living; aging; physical activity; sedentary behavior; age-friendly environments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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