By Atiya Mahmood, Ph.D.

A central tenet in research on built environment and aging is that access to adequate, accessible and affordable housing and socially supportive neighbourhood environments can enhance the ability of older people with diverse physical or cognitive abilities, as well as contrasting socio-economic backgrounds, to “live and age [in place] successfully with independence and dignity.”

By Lynne M. Dearborn, Ph.D.

For many years, I have known intuitively and through personal experience that the physical environment of housing and the health of the housing’s residents are intimately intertwined. Much of the research sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has demonstrated that the physical environment of neighborhoods: configuration, presence of sidewalks, “walkability,” among other things, influences resident physical health and wellbeing.