Department of Health, Taipei City Government

To deal with the global trend of rapid aging, WHO (World Health Organization) proposed Active Ageing in 2002, advocating 3 aspects of health, participation, and safety as the coping strategy of aging problem; emphasizing that countries around the world should actively promote the following policies:

• Form an environment for maintaining the physical and psychological health of the elder
• Build channels for the elder to do social participation
• Ensure safety in social, economic and living fields of the elder

In order to build Age-Friendly Cities, WHO started the Age-Friendly Cities Project ,AFCP in 2005 and based on the collected results, released the Global Age-Friendly Cities: A Guide in 2007, with 8 basic aspects (Barrier-free and safe public space, public transport, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, community and health service), as the references for building Age-Friendly Cities. Also WHO started the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities in June, 2011, with over 40 cities from 11 countries declaring participation of Age-Friendly City at the same time.