ABSTRACT
This chapter places the debate about age-friendly cities and communities within a sociological context, exploring links between “community” on the one side and the idea of “age-friendliness” on the other. There is now a substantial body of literature about the age-friendly approach and that developed by the World Health Organization in particular. However, the “community” dimension of developing age-friendly activities has been the subject of much less research. The chapter examines how ideas about neighbourhood and locality have developed in sociological and community studies; assesses current challenges facing communities, especially those linked with neighbourhood inequalities and social exclusion; considers some of the changes affecting communities, placed against the impact of COVID-19 on neighbourhood life; and reviews the scope for engaging older adults themselves in the development of age-friendly communities.
