Evaluating Elderly-Friendly City Indicators (A Case Study of Sari)

An elderly-friendly city is a city that promotes active aging and includes those urban spaces where the distribution of public services is such that it is most in line with the needs and limitations of the elderly. The purpose of this study was to survey Sari situation in terms of urban space for elderly living with an emphasis on eight indicators namely buildings and open spaces, transportation, housing, social participation, revered elderly and social socialization, Citizen participation and occupation, information, communication, social support, and health services. This study naturally is applied research and methodologically is descriptive-analytical. Data and information collection were done in a library manner and field using a questionnaire. The statistical population of this study included all inhabitants of 60 year-ups of the city of Sari sampled using the Cochran formula who were 385 persons selected as statistical sample. To analyze the questionnaire, we used the SPSS software and ran a single-sample t-test. The results indicated that from the perspective of the elderly, the indices of open spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, elderly reverence, social and citizen participation, occupation, information and communication, social support, and health services are not favorable for the elderly, even to the extent of satisfying their basic needs.