TY - JOUR
T1 - Achieving sustainable urban development with an ageing population
T2 - An “age-friendly city and community” approach
AU - Han, Jianbo
AU - Chan, Edwin Hon Wan
AU - Qian, Queena Kun
AU - Yung, Esther Hiu Kwan
N1 - Funding Information:
The dataset used for analysis in this research comes from a published report of a PPR project named “Sustainable Planning Criteria (SPC) for Age-Friendly Precincts (AFP) in the New Development Areas (NDAs) of Hong Kong” funded by the Central Policy Unit of Hong Kong SAR government [24]. The project was preliminary designed to find the sustainable development criteria for age-friendly precincts. The questionnaire survey was developed through a comprehensive literature review and interviewed 21 local experts in related professions. The details of the questionnaire development have already been well stated in previous publications [24,45]. In 2014, the survey was conducted in eight selected areas in Hong Kong, including new development areas (Sha Tin, Fan Ling and Sheung Shui), the CBD (Central), urban renewal districts (Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po), a planned cultural zone (West Kowloon) and a highly dense old area (Hung Hom). The selection covered different scenarios in Hong Kong.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/8/1
Y1 - 2021/8/1
N2 - The ageing population tends to be seen as a burden of cities’ future development. Thus, the public funds for older residents’ wellbeing are at risk of being cut back under the economic austerity due to the prevalent neoliberalism policy atmosphere. However, some cities set good examples to turn their older citizens into active contributors to sustainable urban development (SUD) by developing age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC). Taking Hong Kong as an example, this study aims to raise a strategy for policymakers, especially at the municipal level, to incorporate the concept of AFCC in SUD. Data were retrieved for our analysis from a published report of the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Fund project. A total of 15 AFCC and SUD policy factors were identified by using factor analysis. The correlations between these policy factors were evaluated and visualised in a synergetic effect network. According to the network, this study indicates that developing the silver hair market can be a suitable entry point to realise SUD by adopting an AFCC development. Isolation prevention, social sustainability and low-energy-consumption development are the supportive policy factors for the silver hair market. Specifically, respect, discrimination prevention, communication and information, age-friendly facilities, environmental safety and public transportation accessibility are five AFCC policy factors incorporated in the policy integration to enhance older residents’ wellbeing further. This study is an innovative attempt to develop a comprehensive model for the synergy between sustainable urban development and an age-friendly city and community using a correlation network. This study also provides a reference for other city governments to respond to population ageing positively.
AB - The ageing population tends to be seen as a burden of cities’ future development. Thus, the public funds for older residents’ wellbeing are at risk of being cut back under the economic austerity due to the prevalent neoliberalism policy atmosphere. However, some cities set good examples to turn their older citizens into active contributors to sustainable urban development (SUD) by developing age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC). Taking Hong Kong as an example, this study aims to raise a strategy for policymakers, especially at the municipal level, to incorporate the concept of AFCC in SUD. Data were retrieved for our analysis from a published report of the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Fund project. A total of 15 AFCC and SUD policy factors were identified by using factor analysis. The correlations between these policy factors were evaluated and visualised in a synergetic effect network. According to the network, this study indicates that developing the silver hair market can be a suitable entry point to realise SUD by adopting an AFCC development. Isolation prevention, social sustainability and low-energy-consumption development are the supportive policy factors for the silver hair market. Specifically, respect, discrimination prevention, communication and information, age-friendly facilities, environmental safety and public transportation accessibility are five AFCC policy factors incorporated in the policy integration to enhance older residents’ wellbeing further. This study is an innovative attempt to develop a comprehensive model for the synergy between sustainable urban development and an age-friendly city and community using a correlation network. This study also provides a reference for other city governments to respond to population ageing positively.
KW - Age-friendly development
KW - Policy integration
KW - Population ageing
KW - Sustainable development
KW - Urban economy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112673583&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/su13158614
DO - 10.3390/su13158614
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85112673583
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 13
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
IS - 15
M1 - 8614
ER -