ABSTRACT
This chapter sets the scene for the book, focusing on the significance of ageing as a societal issue, initially within a historical context, by adopting a social policy perspective that highlights the antecedents of the current approaches the state adopts towards ageing in the UK. The significance of the development of social policy in the UK and the formative influences of liberal philosophies in these policies are examined, since these have shaped the way the ageing population has been managed by the state. The historical narrative highlights the dearth of national policy towards ageing in the UK and the way in which the local state has filled this void, initially by developing active and healthy ageing initiatives, and more recently, by adopting an age-friendly lens. The chapter also outlines the research questions which the book sets out to address using interviews with the age-friendly leads in the UK.
