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The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers that hinder the implementation of age-friendly initiatives in smart cities.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted using Scopus search engine. Relevant keywords were used to discover 81 publications in academic journals. The titles, abstracts, keywords and full texts of the publications were examined to select 39 publications that were relevant for identifying the barriers that hinder the implementation of age-friendly initiatives in smart cities. The contents of the 39 relevant publications were analysed to ascertain the key barriers. A system thinking approach was adopted to understand the interaction among the barriers.

The study identified five key groups of barriers – namely physical barriers and environmental characteristics, technological barriers, social barriers, financial barriers and political barriers – that smart cities encountered or are likely to encounter in implementing age-friendly initiatives. Moreover, practical examples of good age-friendly implementation practices were highlighted.

A limitation of this study is in the number of publications reviewed. Despite the comprehensive review, the number of publications reviewed may not be exhaustive. This is justified by the inapplicability of considering all possible keywords in one review study.

The systemic perspective of the barriers that hinder the implementation of age-friendly initiatives in smart cities would support policymakers in formulating policy recommendations to improve age-friendliness in cities.

This study underscores the variable and dynamic nature of developing age-friendly smart cities and forms novel basis for gaining insights into the multiple factors that can promote the integration of age-friendly initiatives within smart cities.

The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed account of the work and contribution of the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities, a platform established to support the development of age-friendly communities across the UK.

This paper draws on a review of both external and internal working documents, communications with network representatives, and an in-depth interview conducted with the current manager of the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities.

Since its formation, the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities has provided cities with an important platform for knowledge exchange and peer support, and helped build commitment to the age-friendly agenda at the local, national and international level. Through the presentation of various examples, the article illustrates that network members have not only helped drive this agenda forward by developing a collective voice, but also by developing a wide range of initiatives at the local level.

Despite an increased interest in documenting age-friendly experiences around the world, the experience of national programmes remains under-explored in the age-friendly literature to date. To the knowledge, this paper is one of the first to describe the work and contribution of the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities.

The purpose of this paper is to review factors influencing the development of age-friendly communities, pressures arising from context of economic austerity, and issues which need to be considered for further work.

A synthesis of academic literature covering both age-friendly research and other relevant studies.

Pressures on the age-friendly movement include: cuts to the budgets of local authorities; impact of urban regeneration; and high levels of deprivation in inner city communities. Responses need to consider: closer links with other urban programmes (e.g. healthy cities); prioritising the challenge of social inequality; exerting great control over urban development and regeneration; and devising new approaches to delivering age-friendly interventions at a neighbourhood level.

Although the age-friendly movement has many achievements to its name, economic pressures are raising question marks about its future progress. The paper identifies several options for future development. Central to these must be linking age-friendly debates to the inequalities and injustices which affect city life.

The inclusion of the elderly in community life is a major factor in achieving an age-friendly city. However, there has been little research investigating the constraints preventing the elderly's interaction with society. With that in mind, this paper is pioneering the investigation of such constraints.

This paper used the results from the “Questionnaire towards an Age-Friendly City” by Japan's Akita City, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities.

This paper reveals two constraining factors. First, living solo discourages elderly to interact with society. Second, the elderly who cannot drive a car tend to be reluctant to participate in social activities.

To be age-friendly that encourages the elderly to participate in community life, municipalities may apply the following “implementations for practice”: implementing regular visits to the elderly who live alone; giving young people some incentives (e.g. tax reductions) to live with their aged parents/relatives; increasing the number of community buses in order to encourage the elderly to go out; and increasing community taxis by deregulating the industry.

This paper contributes significantly to the study of the elderly's inclusion in community life, which is a major component of an age-friendly city. Although little research has analyzed the constraints preventing the elderly's social interaction due to data limitations, this pioneering paper identifies at least some of the constraints. This research can help to improve the health and wellbeing of elderly individuals in our society and it can help to create more age-friendly cities.

The life expectancy for persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) has increased significantly, resulting in an increasing number of aging persons with ID. To promote healthy and active aging of persons with ID, discussions on new initiatives to design age-friendly communities have begun at local and international levels. The purpose of this paper, a qualitative research study, is to identify features of an age-friendly community, and facilitators and barriers from the perspectives of older adults with mild ID and their caregivers who live in the city of Winnipeg in Canada.

Seven older persons with mild ID were interviewed, and 15 caregivers participated in focus group discussions. All participants were asked questions about features of community living and their experiences in eight broad topic areas (i.e. transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, opportunities for community involvement, communication and information, community support and healthcare services, and outdoor spaces and buildings).

The results indicated that many of the current features of the city of Winnipeg do not adequately address the needs of aging persons with ID; specifically, participants revealed that issues related to accessibility, social participation, social disrespect and inclusion, and lack of resources were important barriers to independence.

The findings will increase awareness of the needs of aging persons with ID and inform programme planning, service delivery, coordination of community-based services and policies to support healthy and active aging for this vulnerable population.

The purpose of this paper is to set out the history and origins of dementia-friendly communities (DFCs) and age-friendly communities (AFCs) in the UK, the differing frameworks and how they compare, and set out some key messages about how they might learn from each other.

This paper is a summary piece written by leaders in the two fields.

It aims to reduce potential confusion around AFCs and DFCs, and provides some practical ways that the two initiatives might work together and find common ground. By learning from each other, both age-friendly and DFCs can grow their reach and their impact as complementary, and not competing, programmes.

The original development of some of the ideas in this paper comes from a paper Natalie Turner co-wrote with Lydia Morken at AARP (www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/livable-communities/documents-2016/Better-Together-Research-Report.pdf). For this paper, the authors reviewed the approach within the UK context and have furthered and added to the original insights.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a study undertaken in Ireland to develop a set of local age-friendly indicators which have been used to support the Age-Friendly Cities and Counties Programme.

A concept-validation approach was used to translate the principles and domains of age-friendly communities into a quantitative indicator set. This iterative process involved five steps: identifying potential indicators; consultation; survey testing; data collection and fieldwork; and finalising the indicator set. A participatory approach was also taken to involve local stakeholders in the development and subsequent use of the indicator set and associated data set. A multi-arm approach to communicating and translating these indicators was taken in order to build capacity within multi-stakeholder groups to engage with and appraise quantitative local evidence in this field.

A set of 120 local age-friendly indicators that can be reported nationally and disaggregated to the local authority level was developed. There were challenges faced in communicating the results and supporting the translation of these indicators into local actions. These challenges included indicator, user, and policy factors and involved instrumental, conceptual, and political issues.

The resulting indicator set is the first of its kind in Ireland and fills and important data gap in the local data landscape. Future work will focus on planning for sustaining collection of local data and building capacity among local stakeholders in the management and use of these indicators.

The aim of the study is to propose an ontology-based approach that provides a framework as a strategy decision tool for urban service design. The research methodology includes two phases to acquire the knowledge needed for urban service management of a city, as a case study. The first phase provides the priority list, through the Principal Component Analysis, for an age-friendly city determined by the citizens through a quantitative research. The second phase is a qualitative research among the public service providers, focusing on 'adequate community support and health services' feature which was the top priority of phase one. The repertory grid as a mapping tool consists of elements (age-friendly cities' features) and constructs (municipality provided services) that interconnect the tacit knowledge with the external knowledge. The findings indicated the importance of the necessity of a shared understanding and conceptualization of what a service is among service providers and consumers. This paper makes an important contribution to urban service management by making the interconnection between tacit and external knowledge as a strategic decision support tool.

Developing what has been termed “age-friendly” cities has become a significant issue for public policy. To date, however, there is limited knowledge about how older people can be involved in the co-production of age-friendly initiatives. The Translating Research into Action project worked with a group of older co-researchers who examined the age-friendliness of their neighbourhood, with the aim of translating the findings into practice and policy recommendations that can help improve the quality of life of older people in urban neighbourhoods. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper synthetises the data collected through focus groups, interviews conducted by co-researchers and a public dissemination event. The analysis focussed on identifying the suggestions for action and change that could improve the social and physical environment for older people in urban neighbourhoods.

Physical and social issues were found to be contingent on each other and mutually reinforcing, and should therefore not be considered in isolation. However, the findings highlighted physical environmental issues as a major concern; transport was a dominant overarching theme.

Three key areas in need of improvement when developing local level age-friendly policies and practices are discussed: improving and diversifying communication and information; promoting accessibility; and, ensuring a range of meeting opportunities for different groups.

The paper illustrates how co-produced research can be translated into age-friendly interventions, and will be of interest to a wide range of local and (inter)national organisations wishing to research and provide advocacy to older people.

This study aims to identify the stakeholders and critical factors (CFs) of promoting age-friendly communities (AFCs), discuss the relationship between the stakeholders and CFs and develop a preliminary framework for the briefing stage of promoting AFCs in urban China.

Stakeholders and CFs were identified through literature review and document analysis. The Delphi method was used to screen the extracted stakeholders and CFs. The focus group methodology was applied to obtain evaluation matrices of relationships between stakeholders and CFs. A two-mode social network was formed to analyse the evaluation matrices generated.

Results of the analyses indicate that local governments and policymaking institutions, together with project investors, obtained high prioritisations in the stakeholders' group, whilst senior citizens and caregivers appear to rank last. For CFs, communities' environmental factors receive the most attention from stakeholders.

Results of the analyses can only show similarities of the participating stakeholders' opinions on their concerns, and provide researchers and practitioners with initial ideas on analysing stakeholders and CFs at the briefing stage of promoting AFCs. For a specific project, the concerns and prioritisations would change. Diverse voices are necessary and case studies are in need.

Challenges in promoting AFCs in urban China are discussed, and a preliminary framework of the briefing stage is developed for practitioners to follow when promoting AFCs.

This study discusses which CFs should be considered priorities and what consensuses are generally reached by stakeholders. CFs are utilised to interpret stakeholders' relationships, influences and concerns on AFC projects when conducting the social network analysis (SNA).