Linking Population Aging, Age-friendly Cities and Health: What Some Evidence from Canada Tells Us

Abstract: We live in an increasingly urban world. In many high-income countries, more than 85% of the populations now live in urban places. With the internet, urban ideas have also infiltrated much of the rural world especially in middle and high-income countries. Even in many low-income countries, more than half of the populations live urban areas. The percentage of people living in urban areas will only increase in the coming decades of the 21st century.  Although the urban health issues faced in low-income countries will no doubt remain different from those in middle and high-income countries, a convergence in health issues is occurring. In this context, what can evidence from Canada tell us? Three scenarios are proposed for the future of cities and their neighbourhoods that might result. The World Health Organization (WHO) concept of Age-Friendly Cities (AFCs) and evidence from Canada are used as examples to provide a starting point to build a research and policy agenda that links population aging and urbanization in the future.   

About the Speaker:

Mark W. Rosenberg, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Prior to his retirement, he was a Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning and was cross appointed as a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University. He was also the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Aging, Health and Development. His research continues to be on aging, health, health care, and health and the environment with foci on access to care, vulnerable populations and inequalities in Canada, and the Canadian health care system. Professor Emeritus Rosenberg has been honored in numerous ways for his research and service in the development of health geography in Canada and internationally. In 2024, Professor Emeritus Rosenberg was elected a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers.

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