Age Friendly

Introduction to the International Age
Friendly Concept and how it has
Developed in Ireland.
by Sylvia Thompson, author of the Age Friendly Cities and
Counties Programme Handbook
to make urban living better for older people.
Policy makers were also aware of the how the
move to urban areas de-populated rural areas,
leaving more older people living isolated lives.
For the first time in human history, there will
soon be more people over the age of 60 than
children under the age of five. Alongside this
huge change in the age of the world population
is a global shift to city living. The awareness of
these two global trends of population ageing
and urbanisation prompted the World Health
Organisation (WHO) to set up a global age
friendly cities programme in 2005.
Launched at the World Congress of Gerontology
and Geriatrics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the
Age Friendly Cities programme immediately
attracted enthusiastic interest from cities across
America and Europe who were keen to find ways
A key realisation from the start was that older
people – the majority of whom are active
and engaged citizens – should be central to
any strategic planning to improve their lives.
Rather than seeing older people as a drain
on government budgets, this new thinking
firmly viewed older people as a resource for
their families, communities and economies.
An age friendly city was defined as an urban
environment which encouraged active ageing
by fostering safer, healthier and more engaged
communities. In practical terms, an age friendly
city adapts its infrastructure and services to be
more accessible and inclusive of older people
with varying needs and capacities (changing
bus routes so that they pass hospitals and
health centres, involving older people in plans
for supported housing etc).
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