A context of aging populations and urbanization has sparked a global movement to make urban spaces age-friendly. The Age-Friendly City program, developed by the World Health Organization, aims to improve local environments for all population groups, promote a positive aging identity, and empower local policy actors to support senior citizens. Despite growing enthusiasm and policy work by local governments worldwide, considerable gaps remain. These lacunae have led scholars and activists alike to align age-friendly city work with the concept of the right to the city. In The Right to an Age-Friendly City Meghan Joy zeroes in on the intricacies of developing an environment that promotes social and spatial justice for the elderly in Toronto. Weaving together the stories, struggles, and victories of local activists, government staff, and frontline service providers, Joy maps this complex policy area and examines the ways in which age-friendly work successfully enhances senior citizens' access to services and support in the local environment, recognizes the diverse needs of senior citizens in the city, and empowers policy actors from local government and the non-profit sector to support senior citizens. A detailed and timely examination, The Right to an Age-Friendly City offers both broad and tangible insights into the intermingled political, economic, cultural, and administrative changes needed to protect the rights of senior citizens to access urban space in Toronto and beyond.

Meghan Joy is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University.

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“... a reader-friendly book [that] uses compelling narratives and research evidence to support its main arguments. The Right to an Age-Friendly City offers a fresh and valuable perspective into the largely “technical” or nonpolitical body of AFC [Age-Friendly City] literature.” Journal of Urban Affairs

“Joy’s work bridges the disciplinary divide between gerontology and public policy, offering a contextualized and politically informed account of the age-friendly policy program in practice.” Canadian Public Administration

"Compellingly presented and convincing in its conclusions, The Right to an Age-Friendly City is a serious and impressive look at -- and evaluation of -- Toronto's approach to providing a system of care for the city's senior citizens." Peter Kresl, Bucknell University