Aligning Policy, Place and Public Value: Planning Age Friendly Cities in Municipal Organizations. Issue 2 (4th March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Keyes, Laura; Collins, Brian; Tao, Jie; Tiwari, Chetan
• Is Part Of: Journal of aging & social policy. Volume 34:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 237
• Page End: 253
• Publication Date: 2022-03-04
• Subjects: Age-friendly cities -- aging in place -- aging -- planning -- local government; Older people -- United States -- Periodicals; Older people -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; Older people -- Periodicals; Older people -- Medical care -- United States -- Periodicals; 362.605
• DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2022.2049570
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0895-9420

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Municipalities are important to age-friendly policy implementation and need to be engaged to bring about the desired physical changes and community supports. As a governing unit, municipalities can allocate resources and leverage their capacity by acting in certain ways. As a planning process, age-friendly policies should be embedded in all levels of municipal government to ensure that maximum public benefits can be leveraged. Three strategies effectively illustrate the opportunity toward internal municipal collaboration: analytic mapping enables policy makers to visualize the captured value of public amenities; policy mapping reveals where departments are reinforcing or contradicting age-friendly policy actions; and effective advocacy builds public support and guides municipal agenda setting. San Antonio, Texas, provides a context to illustrate how the strategies can be implemented to further the goal of age-friendly planning as demonstrated through their commitment and designation as an AARP Age-Friendly Community. This replicable framework will help cities pursing age-friendly policy action to forge connections across departments, policy makers, community partners, and the public toward broader policy implementation. Key Points: Age-friendly planning should not fall to local departments of senior services only. Planning coordination of age-friendly policy results in more diverse outcomes. Mapping is a tool helping policy makers visualize alternative opportunities. Maps give stakeholders the ability to track and monitor progress. This approach is easily replicable for cities implementing age-friendly programs.