ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the rationale and utility of the age-friendly lens, which is neither a textbook nor a survey of age-friendly environment initiatives. Arranged into two parts – the first part – Age-friendly systems and the second part – Age-friendly housing and accommodation – the primary theme of this book is framing the age-friendly environment agenda as perspective as well as a process and destination. A secondary theme of this book is to encourage critical engagement with the issue of ageism in age-friendly scholarship. As a perspective, the age-friendly lens encourages examination of the different ways individuals and societies think, feel and act towards age and ageing. In so doing, the age-friendly lens helps mitigate the risks of personal, interpersonal and institutional ageism, supporting healthier and more fulfilling lives.
