Evaluating Age-Friendly City Indicators in Qazvin: Urban Open Spaces, Buildings and Public Places

Abstract

Background As the population pyramid in Iran shifts to aging and the influence of environmental conditions on the elderly people, the need to pay attention to the foundations of well-being, security and comfort is felt more than ever. Objective The present study aimed at evaluating the urban open spaces and public buildings/places of Qazvin city in Iran as indicators of an age-friendly city based on the perception of older people and managers. Methods This is a descriptive/analytical study conducted in 2017 on 200 older people and 40 urban managers. The older people were selected by a random cluster sampling technique, and managers by a convenience sampling method. Data collection tools were a demographic form and Ageing-Friendly City Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Findings The mean age of the elderly people was 68.32±6.48 years and for the managers, it was 40.28 ±5.94 years. The mean score of public buildings/places was 3.49±1.06 reported by the elderly group and 2.64±0.77 by the managers. For urban open spaces, it was 3.06±0.89 and 2.60±0.52, respectively. There was a significant difference between the opinions of two groups regarding the two surveyed indicators (P<0.001). Conclusion The city of Qazvin is far from ideal in terms of buildings/public places and open spaces for the elderly. Therefore, urban managers should pay more attention to these indicators and take more effective steps to increase their quality.