The population is ageing. Almost 40% of people in England are currently over 50, and almost 20% are over 65 (Census, 2021). In response to the ageing population, in 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the global network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. They aspire to be places where people of all ages feel involved, valued, and supported, with infrastructure and services that meet their preferences, needs and aspirations. Patty Doran, Mhorag Goff, Linda Naughton and Philippa Winship outline their collaborative work with the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG) Older People’s Forum, making recommendations on how the voices of older people can be central to policy development.

• The WHO recommend co-production methods are used in the creation of age-friendly communities.
• Manchester City Council and the University of Manchester have adopted co-production approaches and have been at the forefront of age-friendly work and research for nearly two decades – but more can be done, particularly in response to the growing diversity within older populations.
• Co-production mechanisms such as the Manchester City Council’s Older People’s Board and the MUARG Older People’s Forum can be used to understand and act upon the everyday lived experience of ageing in urban environments.

Co-production as a response to ageing populations

“Age-friendly” means different things to different people. Co-production is a mechanism that can accommodate differences and be used to centre the voices of older people in the development, delivery and evaluation of age-friendly cities and communities. In demonstration of a commitment to co-production, Manchester City Council has a long-established Older People’s Board and the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG) recently launched an Older People’s Forum, a group of experts-by-experience, to work with the research group to critically reflect the research, ensure it is relevant, and develop new knowledge in the field of urban ageing.

In recognition of the value of co-production, working with older people to combat ageism is a priority of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. One in three adults in Britain have experienced ageism, and the UK media has been found to be the most ageist of the 20 English-speaking countries analysed (Centre for Ageing Better, 2023).

The city of Manchester has changed dramatically over the last 40 years, and older people in Manchester have lived with those changes. The MUARG Older People’s Forum have expressed a perception that those changes are done to them, not with them or for them. As our cities across the UK grow older, a continued emphasis on co-production is needed to ensure all voices are heard.

Urban ageing and spatial justice

The ‘Ageing in Place’ research project explores how cities can meet the needs of a diverse range of older people to become more age-friendly. Applying a spatial justice perspective, it explores how age-friendly programmes are developed and delivered.

As part of the ‘Ageing in Place’ project, a short film was produced with older people in cities across seven different countries, speaking about what ‘age-friendly’ meant to them. The older people in the film are residents of their cities, volunteers at community centres, members of older people boards and participants in age-friendly services. Their views and opinions represent a diversity of experience and involvement in age-friendly cities and communities.

The film was recently shared with the MUARG Older People’s Forum who shared their reflections and comments at a public event aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of co-production. The policy recommendations below are the result of this process.

“Why have we got to accept what they think is right for us, we are fighting for our rights to live the way we would like to live. Why don’t they ask us these things, I’ve had to bury my anger, because it was making me ill. It’s not everything I agree with, and it’s not everything I disagree with, but we weren’t asked and that is very wrong” (MUARG Older People’s Forum member).

Co-production for policy development

From making the film and discussing it with the MUARG Older People’s Forum, we learned that older people have stories to tell and experiences to share. The key message is that to make cities great places to age, the voices of older people must be central to policy development, delivery and evaluation.

When older people are participants in research and policymaking it forces researchers and policymakers to think in a more joined-up, systemic way that cuts across silos and policy domains such as transport, housing, and culture. Instead of thinking in terms of simplistic matching of problems and solutions, co-production accounts for the complex lived experience of older people. This avoids treating them like a problem to be solved but rather as partners in shaping their cities to meet their diverse needs.

For example, on transport policy decision-makers may want to address costs or access, however the Forum raised a whole range of interrelated issues cutting across transport, health, social welfare and housing. We cannot think about urban policy in silos. While Manchester was praised by the Forum for developing cycle paths, there are still barriers for older people, including uneven pavements that increase the risk of falling; poor street lighting; stations lacking accessibility aides (escalators, lifts); a lack of public toilets and seating (particularly in more deprived areas); and bus services that are not age-friendly. Forum members offered examples from the Isle of Man and Canada, where bus drivers were trained to ensure older people were given enough time to board, get seated and disembark safely (addressing ageism).

We recommend that all councils and urban planners ensure that their consultations engage with co-production mechanisms – as demonstrated by the Manchester City Council’s Older People’s Board and MUARG’s Older People’s Forum, and which we encourage other local authorities to adopt as a template. Councils and local authorities need to be supported in this by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. This policy priority could be adopted by the New Towns Taskforce.

Barriers, support and infrastructure

In addition to physical barriers to accessing services and spaces, policymakers must address social isolation. The Forum highlighted those who have caring duties, those who have lost partners, the LGBTQ+A community, and older men as requiring particular attention. It highlighted the need for support for older people as they move into “life after paid work”.

MUARG’s recent research highlights the need for social infrastructure that enables older people to connect in multiple ways and multiple spaces: pubs, libraries, informal and formal public spaces, green spaces and faith spaces. We suggest that local authorities take this into account for public space, urban planning and transport provision and make greater efforts to include co-production into the consultation process.

For example, when a new large housing redevelopment was proposed in North Manchester in 2019, developers and the strategic development department of the city council presented the proposed plans to Manchester Older People’s Board for feedback. As a result of this and in collaboration with The University of Manchester, the plans were revised to reflect concerns around age-friendly housing and infrastructure that would limit cases of social isolation. This demonstrates how co-production with older people can influence councils’ work to become more age-friendly. We advocate for these ways of working to be embedded in all areas of local authorities.

There are other examples of local authorities with older people boards, but those without them should consider working with older people in this way to improve decision making that reflects the needs of their communities who can then be used to offer feedback in consultation processes.

For some, later life is a time to relax and take self-care, for many it is a time of caring and increased isolation, for others it’s about getting out of their comfort zone to make new connections and try new things. As one member argued, their generation had gone out to work at 14 or 15, ‘We deserve a good retirement, we deserve everything!’