“Silver Linings Graybook”: A Comparative Study of Age-friendly Development in Hong Kong and Manchester

In face of global population ageing, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Age-friendly Movement in 2006 and developed the WHO age-friendly framework that is being widely adopted around the world. Although there is an extensive body of literature on age-friendly development following the WHO movement, limited discussion was on the process at the neighbourhood level, particularly in relation to the interplay of different stakeholders. To fill in this research gap, this study adopted a neo-institutionalist lens with elements of street-level bureaucracy in comparing the process of how age-friendliness is being enacted at the neighbourhood scale in Manchester and Hong Kong, through a comparative case study approach. This is the one of the first truly international comparisons on age-friendly cities of western and non-western contexts. Data was collected through document analysis, in-depth interviews and participatory observation.
The findings of this thesis document the process of age-friendliness at the neighbourhood level, with rich detail on the interplay of the different stakeholders involved. The major contribution of these findings is bringing a new perspective in understanding age-friendly processes by introducing the role of street-level bureaucrats (SLB), who are the determining agent in shaping how age-friendliness is being enacted at the neighbourhood level. Moreover, the findings in both cases also suggest an interdependent relationship between the processes at the city and neighbourhood levels. This thesis also suggests that the role of academics can be strengthened through a collaborative partnership of different stakeholders in developing age-friendliness at the community level. Finally, by contrasting the two case studies, it is shown that the ways of interpreting age-friendliness among different stakeholders vary place by place. This thesis hence concludes by suggesting age-friendliness as a fluid concept that should be embraced with a flexible mindset.