Challenges in applying Global Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: a Guide (AFCC) to governing cities and communities in China

Ying, Zhang (2023) Challenges in applying Global Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: a Guide (AFCC) to governing cities and communities in China. Masters by Research thesis (MA), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Global Age Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A guide (AFCC) provides a solution for developing global ageage-friendly cities and communities, which aim to improve the quality of life of older adults. As the actions of the Global Network of Age Age-Friendly Cities take place around the world, many challenges are highlighted in applying AFCC guidelines as a governance model to developing local age age-friendly cities and communities. To further identify these challenges with an international background, this study was carried out with the main goal of providing evidence for developing age age-friendly cities and communities in China, as well as support for the refinement of the AFCC guideline s from an international perspective. After reviewing the origin and related theories of building age age-friendly cities and communities, two assessment systems were investigated and compared (i.e., WHO's Global Age Age-Friendly Cities: A Guide (abbreviated as AFC C) and Report on Index of Health Ageing in Major Chinese Cities (abbreviated as RIHA) ) by using a Context Analysis method. Based on differences in the classification of Tier Tier-1 and Tier Tier-2 indicators in the AFCC and RIHA, this study analyzed and summarized the challenges that may arise from embedding AFCC guidelines into the current China urban governance, including: 1) Adoption of the AFCC assessment results might be at risk of failure in the decision decision- making of urban governance at different scales; 2) The AFCC framework is incompatible with the framework of China urban governance so that it cannot play a role in developing local age age-friendly urban and community governance actions; and 3) The AFCC framework does not provide priorities for the development of ageage-friendly cities and communities. And then, some suggestions were provided in this study, including: 1) continuously exploring the AFCC indicators with the findings of international practices, which will help to characterize age age-friendly cities and comm unities in the world.; 2) re re-classifying the AFCC indicators according to spatial scales may be more helpful for the transnational application of the AFCC guidelines; 3) the AFCC indicator needs to expand the dimensions, in order to comprehensively and sys tematically describe and measure the characteristics of age age-friendly cities and communities.