Romanian Older Adults’ Views of the Age-Friendliness of their City: The Importance of Digital Technologies

dc.contributor.authorRădulescu, Cristina
dc.contributor.authorIvan, Loredana
dc.contributor.authorLoos, Eugène
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-26T09:47:52Z
dc.date.available2025-08-26T09:47:52Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionThis book chapter is available on Springer Link platform at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-92712-6_6 The author Ivan Loredana is affiliated to SNSPA, Faculty of Communication and Public Relations. The author Cristina Radulescu is affiliated to SNSPA, Faculty of Communication and Public Relations.
dc.description.abstractRegions around the world have undergone different patterns of urbanization, with North America and Europe currently being the most urbanized areas: over 75% of the people live in urban communities [1, 2]. Eventually, people will grow old in cities and experience all aspects of the urban environment later in life. The World Health Organization [3] launched the age-friendly city and communities’ movement that proposes solutions for older people to age actively by improving their welfare and social participation. In Europe, numerous urban communities are following the age-friendly city agenda and have become members of the Global Age-Friendly Cities Network. The concept of an age-friendly city comprised eight dimensions: (1) outdoor spaces and buildings; (2) transportation; (3) housing; (4) social participation; (5) respect and social inclusion; (6) civic participation and employment; (7) communication and information; and (8) community support and health services. Using a qualitative explorative approach, we conducted a series of interviews with older adults (60 years and more) in Bucharest (N = 20) from December 2023 to June 2024 to understand their meaning of an “age-friendly” community and the perceived role of digital technology in the process of making urban communities more livable. The results are analyzed by contrasting the views of more vulnerable older adults (over 76 years) with poor health conditions with the younger and more active respondents (aged 60 to 65 with a good health situation). People over 76 with poor health conditions are not able to enjoy the quality of life in the city, compared to the more active seniors, usually below 65 years, who are looking for cultural and social opportunities to live in the urban community. The results reveal the role of digital familiarity in enjoying city opportunities and the importance of communication and information in the way older adults envisage the “age-friendliness” of their community.
dc.identifier.citationRădulescu, C., Ivan, L., Loos, E. (2025). Romanian Older Adults’ Views of the Age-Friendliness of their City: The Importance of Digital Technologies. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. HCII 2025. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15811. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-92712-6_6
dc.identifier.isbn978-3-031-92714-0
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-92712-6_6
dc.identifier.urihttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-92712-6_6
dc.identifier.urihttps://debdfdsi.snspa.ro/handle/123456789/1123
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.subjectDigital technology
dc.subjectAge-friendly cities
dc.subjectUrban communities
dc.subjectOlder people
dc.subjectRomania
dc.titleRomanian Older Adults’ Views of the Age-Friendliness of their City: The Importance of Digital Technologies
dc.typeBook chapter

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