the purpose of this Guide is to engage cities to become more age-friendly so as to

tap the potential that older people represent for humanity.

An age-friendly city encourages active ageing by optimizing opportunities for
health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.
In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be
accessible to and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities.
To understand the characteristics of an age-friendly city, it is essential to go to the
source older city dwellers. By working with groups in 33 cities in all WHO regions,
WHO has asked older people in focus groups to describe the advantages and barriers
they experience in eight areas of city living. In most cities, the reports from older people
were complemented by evidence from focus groups of caregivers and service providers
in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Th e results from the focus groups led to the
development of a set of age-friendly city checklists.
Barrier-free buildings and streets enhance the mobility and independence of
people with disabilities, young as well as old. Secure neighbourhoods allow children,
younger women and older people to venture outside in confi dence to participate in
physically active leisure and in social activities. Families experience less stress when
their older members have the community support and health services they need. Th e
whole community benefi ts from the participation of older people in volunteer or paid
work. Finally, the local economy profi ts from the patronage of older adult consumers.
Th e operative word in age-friendly social and physical urban settings is enablement.
Th e purpose of this Guide is to help cities see themselves from the perspective of
older people, in order to identify where and how they can become more age-friendly. Th
e following parts of the Guide describe, for every area of city life, the advantages and
barriers that older people experience in cities at diff erent stages of development. Th e
checklist of core age-friendly features concluding each part applies to less developed as
well as more developed cities. It is intended to provide a universal standard for an age-
friendly city.
Th e age-friendly features checklist is not a system for ranking one citys age-
friendliness against anothers; rather, it is a tool for a citys self-assessment and a map to
chart progress. No city is too far behind to make some signifi cant improvements based
on the checklist. Going beyond the checklist is possible, and indeed some cities already
have features that exceed the core. Th ese good practices provide ideas that other cities
can adapt and adopt. Nevertheless, no city provides a gold standard in every area. Th e
checklists of age-friendly urban features are neither technical guidelines nor design
specifi cations. Other technical documentation is available to help implement changes
that may be required in individual cities (16,17).