Problematizing the age friendly cities and communities program in Toronto.

Area of Science:

• Public Policy Analysis
• Urban Planning
• Gerontology

Background:

• The Age Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) initiative aims to create supportive environments for older adults.
• Existing literature often overlooks the political dimensions and practical challenges of AFCC implementation.
• A critical policy analysis is needed to understand the underlying problems AFCCs aim to solve.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a poststructural policy analysis approach for interrogating AFCCs.
• To examine the core problem AFCCs in Toronto are intended to solve.
• To identify dominant and alternative discursive practices within AFCC policy.

Main Methods:

• Poststructural policy analysis framework.
• Discourse analysis of Toronto's age-friendly policy documents.
• Qualitative analysis of 77 interview transcripts with policy actors.

Main Results:

• AFCCs in Toronto are predominantly framed to address the issue of 'costly seniors'.
• This framing overshadows the problem of inaccessible environments for older adults.
• Alternative discourses emphasizing seniors' rights to accessible services and environments were identified.

Conclusions:

• AFCC policy is politically flexible and can serve various agendas.
• Poststructural policy analysis effectively reveals these underlying political projects.
• This approach can inform the development of rights-based alternatives for AFCCs.