Planning Communities for All Ages

Abstract

Using a 2013 national survey of 1,474 U.S. communities, we differentiate communities that address the needs of children and seniors in planning and zoning codes, and their impacts on the built environment at the street, neighborhood, and housing levels. Structural equation modeling results show engagement and professionalism are the most important drivers of multigenerational planning and zoning codes, and zoning has the greatest impact on built environment outcomes. Denser, larger communities are more child- and age-friendly. Rural communities and places with more seniors lag in response. Attitudes and income are not barriers to action, which gives hope for change.

Can Age-Friendly Planning Promote Equity in Community Health Across the Rural-Urban Divide in the US?

“…Remote rural counties rank the highest in engagement (Table 1). Prior research has confirmed the critical importance of community engagement in building more child and age friendly communities [17,19,20,44,51,52]. Both WHO [4,9], UNICEF [5] and the American Planning Association (APA) [8,53] point to the need to give attention to the social environment-economic opportunity and engagement-beyond the built environment features of housing, neighborhood and transportation.…”

“…Density must be accompanied by neighborhood characteristics (mixed use, walkability) to make it positive. Zoning codes can create the built environments that best meet the needs of children [44] and older adults [20], if special attention is given to participation of those most affected-children, the poor and older adults [19,20,44]. In rural areas, where the built environment is least amenable to change, services must make up the difference, but prior research has shown health related services also lag in rural areas [17,60].…”

“…Rural local governments face the challenges of urban-biased design guidelines and the lack of infrastructure and services [19]. Health is a place-based issue, and collaboration between residents, business and community institutions is essential to improve public health [1], especially in rural communities [20].…”

“…Ochoa and Nash [49] reviewed community-based projects addressing health disparities in the US, and concluded that community engagement affects childhood disparities in diabetes and other risk factors. Studies of US communities found those which engaged older adults in the planning process were more likely to provide health related services [17], and those which engage elders and families with children were more likely to have age friendly planning and design [19,20,44].…”

“…An age-friendly community aims to increase functional independence for individuals across the life course by linking individual physical capacity, the built environment (determined by planning and zoning), and service delivery in the community [19,20]. However, design guidelines adhering to new urbanist principles of density, walkability, and mixed-use [21,22] are difficult for rural communities to implement due to lower density and greater dependence on automobile travel [19,20]. Rural communities face challenges with the built environment and the services needed to meet the health needs of older adults and children.…”