information for practice

The guide is aimed primarily at urban planners, but older citizens can use it to monitor progress towards more age-friendly cities. At its heart is a checklist of age-friendly features. For example, an age-friendly city has sufficient public benches that are well-situated, well-maintained and safe, as well as sufficient public toilets that are clean, secure, accessible by people with disabilities and well-indicated. Other key features of an age-friendly city include:
- well-maintained and well-lit sidewalks;
- public buildings that are fully accessible to people with disabilities;
- city bus drivers who wait until older people are seated before starting off and priority seating on buses;
- enough reserved parking spots for people with disabilities;
- housing integrated in the community that accommodates changing needs and abilities as people grow older;
- friendly, personalized service and information instead of automated answering services;
- easy-to-read written information in plain language;
- public and commercial services and stores in neighbourhoods close to where people live, rather than concentrated outside the city; and a civic culture that respects and includes older persons.