Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

As population aging and rapid urbanization transform the dynamics of places and health, new modes of research and engagement are needed to reflect the heterogeneity of older adults and diversity of places we live. The concept of age-friendly places has grown from a framework around cities into a social movement across a multitude of settings, including age-friendly campuses, health systems, businesses, and neighborhoods. There is need in the context of local cultures to engage older adults in co-producing knowledge about age-friendly environments. In parallel, there is a global need to broaden our understandings and use of participatory methods which are inclusive of historically marginalized and underserved older adults. Underlying these needs at both local and global scales is an urgency for cross-cultural, comparative research to measure outcomes and improve the livability of places for aging. This paper reports on findings from a rapid review of community-based participatory research and engagement methods designed to engage older adults in co-creating age-friendly environments. Authors draw from their interdisciplinary backgrounds in architecture, planning and gerontology to provide an overview of participatory processes which recast older adults as active participants in place-making. We draw from our own work in the US Intermountain West, where several flagship issues challenge the prospects of creating age-friendly places including a lack of affordable housing, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, and mental health crises. Socially engaged processes that address economic, social, and health disparities yield insights into roles older adults have in place-making within larger landscapes of population aging.