What challenges do older adults face in cities?

Common challenges include unsafe or inaccessible streets, hard-to-use transport, unsuitable housing, isolation, ageism, digital exclusion and difficulty reaching health and care services.

Main barriers

Barriers are physical (pavements, crossings, steps), social (isolation, ageism), economic (cost of living, housing) and informational (digital-only services).

  • [Official source] Ageism is a documented barrier to healthy ageing. — WHO, Global report on ageism
  • [SeniorHub interpretation] The grouping of barriers is SeniorHub's summary.

Indian context

SeniorHub's knowledge base does not yet hold verified Indian national, state or city sources on this topic. Indian context will be added once such sources are reviewed.

Sources

  • Global report on ageism — WHO (2021)

Jurisdiction: GLOBAL · Version 2 · Last reviewed 2026-09-24. SeniorHub is not affiliated with or endorsed by WHO or the UN.