I was looking through some articles and found this term ‘age-friendly’ city. We have heard of Most Liveable and Best Retirement cities but age-friendly is the first time I have seen such as word. Article in Edgeprop.my here: Malaysia plans age-friendly cities The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry together with UN Development Programme is planning an age-friendly city to encourage more public transportation to be more child-, elderly- and disabled-friendly. Its minister Dr Wan Azizah said, “This concept envisions a town or community where the voice, needs, interests and rights of a child will be of the utmost priority in developing policies and programmes at the local government level. Our cities have to be age-, child- and gender-friendly as we prepare ourselves for this change in social profile.”
She added that 77% of Malaysia’s population currently resides in urban areas and it’s expected to rise to 80% by 2030, meaning challenges such as traffic congestion, pollution and limited water resources would increase. Due to this it is important to have efficient management, partnerships, transparency and accountability so that a city will become more attractive in attracting investments, leading to a healthy economic growth. Liveability was also a core component of competitiveness. Therefore, cities must have basic facilities and amenities, infrastructure, public transportation, secure neighbourhoods and a clean environment. Article in Edgeprop.my here: Malaysia plans age-friendly cities
When we look at the demographics of Malaysia, we could see that the lower portion is much larger than the top. Image on the left. In other words, the focus on cities become age-friendly may be pretty accurate. What’s very important in my opinion is to ensure the connectivity within the city as the size of cities will continue to grow wider and further with expansion in people due to continuous urbanisation. The best part of age-friendly city is this: When we can let a child get from home to school quickly, safely and cheaply. Kids should be allowed to become more independent. I hope I have some supporters in my personal opinion on ‘age-friendly’ city. By the way, when Malaysia becomes an ageing nation by 2040, the elderly should also have access to the same. Please do not ask them to return to stay in small towns or villages. Let them be part of a growing and vibrant community too, if they choose to.
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Article written and edited by Charles. News article summarised by Dina Batrisyia.
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