WHO AgeFriendly Cities Project Public Transportation Content

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WHO Age-Friendly Cities Project Public
Transportation Content

• Louise Plouffe, Ph.D.
• Senior Technical Adviser
• Ageing and Life Course Programme

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Guiding Principle Active Ageing

• Active ageing is the process ofoptimizing
  opportunities for health, participation and
  security in order to enhance quality of life as
  people age."

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A Life Course Approach to Active Ageing
Range of function in individuals
SourceKalache and Kickbusch, 1997
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What is an Age-Friendly City?

• Inclusive and accessible urban environment that
  promotes active ageing
• A continuous process

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Why urban communities?

• 75 of older persons in developed countries live
  in cities
• Developing countries are urbanizing rapidly,
  without planning for ageing

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WHO's goal

• Stimulate global awareness and multisectoral
  action to improve age-friendliness of urban
  settings
• Provide "bottom up" indicators to guide cities in
  becoming more age-friendly

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Collaborators in 27 cities

• La Plata, Argentina
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• San Jose, Costa Rica
• Mexico City, Cancun, Mexico
• Kingston, Jamaica
• Saanich, Portage, Halifax, Canada
• Dundalk, Ireland
• Liverpool, London, England
• Geneva, Meinier, Switzerland
• Ruhr region, Germany
• Gijo, Spain

• Moscow, Tuymazy Russia
• Istanbul, Turkey
• New Delhi, India
• Islamabad, Pakistan
• Tokyo, Himeji, Japan
• Shanghai, China
• Melbourne, Melville, Australia
• And?

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The Methodology

• Community assessment to identify barriers to
  age-friendliness via focus groups with
• Older persons
• Caregivers of older persons
• Providers of services (public, commercial and
  voluntary
• Dissemination of local findings to stimulate and
  guide action

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WHO Global Age-Friendly City Guide

• Common and unique barriers to active ageing in
  urban settings
• Age-friendly city indicators

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8 Focus Group Topics

• Outdoor spaces and buildings
• Transportation (public and private)
• Housing
• Respect and social inclusion
• Social participation
• Communication and information
• Civic participation and employment
• Community support and health services

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Public Transport Issues Raised Are public buses,
trams and subways?

• Affordable?
• Easy to get to?
• Easy to board?
• Frequent enough?
• On time?
• With extensive routes?

• Safe, well-lit, protected waiting areas with
  benches?
• Secure from crime?
• Adapted for persons with disabilities?

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Other related areas

• Legibility of street signs and numbers
• Community responsiveness to needs in services and
  programmes
• Design and maintenance of sidewalks, curbs,
  crosswalks, street lighting
• Physical safety
• Security from criminal victimization

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Also Communication and Information

• Accessible?
• Useful?
• Timely?
• Easy to understand?
• Adapted to user needs (alternative formats?)

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October 1, 2007

• WHO Global Age-Friendly City Guide World Wide
  release

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Beyond October 2007

• WHO anticipates
• Pilot implementation of the Age-Friendly Cities
  Guide
• Support for development of a guide for
  age-friendly rural and remote communities
• Establishment of a global network of age-friendly
  communities