Planning for individuals with varying degrees of impairments has, over the past 40 years, challenged conventional approaches to community development. However, more recently there has emerged, both within research and greater society, a need to understand how the disabling nature of the built environment impacts our inevitably aging population. Recognizing such, this thesis research explores whether planning policies within the City of Waterloo reflect an age-friendly model of development. Moreover, recognizing that the aging population increasingly experiences some form of impairment, this research further utilizes universal design as means to more comprehensively review for an aging supportive model. The fundamental goal of an age-friendly approach is to address the needs of individuals at all stages of their life with an obvious emphasis on promoting longer independence. A number of literature sources were utilized in developing two separate analysis tools that focused on goal-oriented policies such as Official Plans as well as prescriptive planning policy including Zoning By-laws and Urban Design Guidelines. This research attempts to provide a means with which to determine the age-friendliness of planning policies, how age-friendly policies may incorporate provisions regarding accessibility, as well as changes that municipalities may wish to consider in the implementation of an age-friendly model.

Thesis advisor: Christina Matz-Costa / Given the rising numbers of community-dwelling older adults in the United States (US), understanding the effect of home and community factors on health and well-being is critically important. Although important contributions have been made, most existing studies have used unidimensional measures of neighborhoods, which provide insufficient empirical evidence to develop holistic interventions. Also, despite the prevalence of disability among older adults, only a handful of studies have explored the effect of physical functioning in the relationship between home and neighborhood environments and older adults’ well-being. Finally, the role of the global assessment of community in mediating the effect of home and neighborhood environments on older adults’ well-being has not been explored. To fill these knowledge gaps, this dissertation examined the relationship between home and community environments and well-being (i.e., self-reported health, global assessment of community, and likelihood of aging-in-place) among adults age 65 and older (n=4,066). Based on the press-competence model, differences in hypothesized relationships by respondents’ physical functioning was also examined. Further, this dissertation explored the mediating effect of older adults’ global assessments of their community to see if the effect of home and neighborhood environments on older adults’ likelihood of aging-in-place operates through the global assessment of community. Data were analyzed from the AARP Age-Friendly Communities 2015 survey, which was collected from 14 communities in the US and includes 66 items capturing aspects of home and community environments under eight domains. Results of multi-level regression analyses suggest that both availability of resources and the fit between respondents’ needs and available resources are associated with their health, global assessment of community, and the likelihood of aging-in-place. The impact of home and neighborhood environments was greater among respondents with functional limitations and with low income. Home and neighborhood environments are associated with older adults’ likelihood of aging-in-place through their effect on the global assessment of community. These findings provide a fuller understanding of the impact of surrounding environments on older adults’ well-being, which will inform policy and practice efforts to better serve community-dwelling older adults. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Urban First Nations and Inuit older adults are aging in a Western-centric sociopolitical environment that is experiencing significant social change due to population aging and urbanization. Consequently, urban communities are facing increasing pressures to respond to the needs of the growing older adult population. As a result of these pressures, older adults are urged to “age well” to reduce their “burden” on society; however, older adults do not all define aging well in the same way and they do not all have the same opportunities to age well. Through my research, I aimed to address a gap in the academic literature concerning urban-dwelling First Nations and Inuit older adults and aging well. Ultimately, my goal was to identify how First Nations and Inuit older adults living in Ottawa could be supported to age well in ways that reflect their urban Indigenous identities, cultural perspectives, and life course. My specific research questions are four-fold: 1) Are Indigenous older adults marginalized through dominant aging well frameworks?; 2) how do community-dwelling First Nations and Inuit older adults (aged 55 years and over) living in Ottawa, Canada, define and negotiate aging well in an urban environment?; 3) what community-level factors contribute to First Nations and Inuit older adults (aged 55 years and over) feeling supported to age well in the city of Ottawa?; and 4) how do community stakeholders in Ottawa produce understandings of supporting urban Indigenous older adults to age well? Informed by a postcolonial theoretical framework, I conducted this research using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodology in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in partnerships with the Odawa Native Friendship Centre and Tungasuvvingat Inuit. To address my research questions, I conducted semi-structured interviews with nine First Nations older adults, focus groups with 23 Inuit older adults, and photovoice with two First Nations older adults. Additionally, I conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with community stakeholders (i.e., decision-makers and service providers. My doctoral research makes novel contributions to the fields of kinesiology and gerontology by expanding postcolonial theory to issues related to aging research with urban Indigenous older adults; contributing to the emerging literature that brings diverse perspectives into conversations on aging well; challenging assumptions related to urban Indigenous populations and aging well; illustrating the tensions within aging well initiatives that intended to be available for all older adults; and revealing the tensions within efforts to address reconciliation with Indigenous older adults.

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Age-friendly parks support older adults' health as places for urban outdoor recreation when more remote nature becomes inaccessible. I analyzed data from a previous survey (n = 266) to explore factors important for older adults' nature experience knowledge to find essential features of age-friendly park design. The data from the survey showed that many older adults had a functional impairment. Still, they used nature areas within walking distance for peace and tranquility and valued age-friendly design features. I also performed semi-structured interviews with planners (n = 6) at Östersund Municipality, Sweden, to understand how their work was affected as the proportion of older adults increased. The planners emphasized supporting older adults' independence through cross sectoral projects and more collaboration between public, private, and non-profit actors. Findings were discussed and implemented into Badhusparken and Surfbukten, urban green spaces in Östersund, to understand planning in practice and park features needed to support age-friendly outdoor recreation. My conclusion was that features regarding age-friendly parks are complex and equal participation is an issue that requires more interdisciplinary research, especially regarding possibilities with age-friendly projects and networks as ways to overcome challenges with an aging population. / <p>2023-06-09</p>

This thesis discusses the relationship between elderly urban planning and the ageing society from an elderly person’s perspective and from the municipality perspective. Two municipalities that is on the top ten list of having an older population have been studied in Sweden. In order to assess what planners and the perspective of elderly people in connection to age-friendly planning. In this essay was interviews used as the method where planners and citizens in the two chosen municipalities, Vadstena and Rättvik, was interviewed. In order to analyse the collected material I have implemented a thematic analysis where the focus was to find themes in the data collection. The results show a lack of communication between the municipalities, specifically regarding participation and acknowledging the elderly associations in place. The citizens perspective where a lacking factor about elderly urban planning which prevent elderly people from living more social lives. Lastly, there were a will from the planners to start moving chains but the population had opposite understanding of what was supposed to happen. The perspective from the citizens showed that both municipalities lacked places for only elderly people to socialize and both are in need of improved transportation services. There were a will from the planners wanting to change and improve the future of elderly urban planning with more alternatives. For this thesis I interview the elderly population in smaller municipalities and read about how elderly people are portrayed in planning in smaller municipalities. This thesis aim to target the perspective of elderly people about planning and ageing.

Understanding the features of urban public spaces that attract or exclude elderly residents is becoming an increasingly pressing concern in cities across the world. The present study is underpinned by the aim to uncover the desires, needs, values, uses and aspirations of elderly residents in public spaces across Stockholm. Using the concept of ‘Age-Friendly Cities’, this research examines the links between these specific elements and broader feeling of belonging or wellbeing that can arise from access to inclusive public spaces. Participants from two contrasting neighbourhoods were recruited to partake in a mental mapping and photo elicitation study of their surrounding areas. These visual materials were used to assess the age-friendliness of the two areas. Findings were analysed according to three themes: outdoor green spaces, transport infrastructure and urban development and growth. These themes were used to inform a discussion around what constitutes age-(un)friendliness. Flexible, inclusive, open, accessible places sensitive to local histories were found to be preferred. The design of transport infrastructure, such as roads and metro stations, were identified as features that contribute to discomfort in public spaces. These concerns were further exacerbated and amplified by concerns at the rapid growth of the city. Age-unfriendliness was therefore characterised by issues such as exclusion from access to new developments and a loss of identity, quality of life, resources and local character.

Cities are facing a major demographic change where the proportion of older people isexpected to increase. This has drawn attention to the need to make cities more age-friendly,and thus promote health, independence and the active lives of the elderly. In 2010, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) created a global network for age-friendly cities andcommunities with the aim of spreading knowledge and information about how to betteradapt cities for older people. Stockholm is one of many cities that have now joined thenetwork and thus committed to making the city more age-friendly. The aim of this thesis hastherefore been to investigate how Stockholm can plan to become an age-friendly city basedon the WHO guidelines and the age-friendly planning processes in other cities.First, a literature study of articles concerning other cities’ age-friendly work was made.Based on this literature study, a theoretical framework was developed around the themesthat emerged as particular important regarding age-friendly planning. The theories werecollaborative planning, institutional capacity and integrated planning. Furthermore, studiesof documents dealing with the future development of Stockholm City were conducted toexamine the elderly perspective in these. Finally, interviews with municipal officials andpoliticians were made to get a deeper understanding of how the cities age-friendly planninglooks today.The study’s results indicate that Stockholm has good opportunities to plan for an agefriendlycity, while there are still several obstacles to overcome. The city’s strengths are thedesire to become more age-friendly, which is evidenced by political support and a givenbudget, as well as the recognition of the importance of including the urban planning office.However, some of the obstacles that remain are the lack of cross-sectorial collaboration(between the urban planning office and the elderly administration office), that the elderlyadministration office comes in too late in urban planning processes, and that the needs ofthe elderly have long been adopted through the accessibility perspective only. The studyends with a number of solutions to help overcome these obstacles. / Världens städer står inför en stor demografisk förändring där andelen äldre människorförväntas öka. Detta har uppmärksammat ett behov av att göra städer mer äldrevänliga, föratt på så sätt främja de äldres hälsa, självständighet och aktiva liv. År 2010 skapadeVärldshälsoorganisationen (WHO) ett globalt nätverk för äldrevänliga städer och kommunermed syftet att sprida information och kunskap om hur man bättre kan anpassa städer föräldre människor. Stockholm är en av många städer som nu har gått med i nätverket ochdärmed åtagit sig att göra staden mer äldrevänlig. Syftet med detta arbete har därför varitatt med hjälp av WHO:s riktlinjer och andra städers äldrevänliga planeringsprocesser,undersöka hur Stockholm kan planera för att bli en mer äldrevänlig stad.Först gjordes en litteraturstudie av artiklar där man forskat om städers äldrevänliga arbeten.Baserat på denna litteraturstudie togs ett teoretiskt ramverk fram kring de teman somframkommit som särskilt viktiga angående en äldrevänlig planering. Teorierna som använtsär kollaborativ planering, institutionell kapacitet samt integrerad planering. Vidaregenomfördes studier av dokument som behandlar Stockholms stads framtida utveckling föratt undersöka äldreperspektivet i dessa. Till sist genomfördes även intervjuer medförvaltningsanställda och politiker inom stadsbyggnad och äldrefrågor för att få en djupareförståelse för hur stadens äldrevänliga planering ser ut idag.Studiens resultat tyder på att det idag finns bra förutsättningar för Stockholm att kunnaplanera för en äldrevänligare stad, samtidigt som det återstår ett antal hinder för arbetet. Destyrkor som staden visar idag är viljan att bli mer äldrevänlig, något som framgår genompolitiskt stöd och en avsatt budget för arbetet, samtidigt som man inser den viktiga roll somstadsbyggnadskontoret kan bidra med. Några av de hinder som dock återstår är bristen påsektorsövergripande samverkan (mellan stadsbyggnadskontoret och äldreförvaltningen), attäldreförvaltningen kommer in för sent i stadsplaneringsprocesser, och att äldres behov längehar antagits tillgodoses genom tillgänglighetsperspektivet. Studien avslutas med ett antalförslag på lösningar för att överkomma dessa hinder.

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