Older Adults and Gentrification: The Positive Role of Social Policy

• Published in: Canadian journal on aging 2024-11, p.1-11
• Main Authors: Weil, Joyce, Rooks, Ronica N, Leonard, Emily E, Evans, Emily
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0714-9808; 1710-1107; 1710-1107
• DOI: 10.1017/S0714980824000333

Supportive public policies are suggested as ways to lessen gentrification's impact for older adults. While explicit policies designed to help older adults with gentrification are rare, literature on age-friendly cities is a close proxy. We utilized three North American cases undergoing gentrification: New York City, NY, and Denver, CO, in the United States and Hamilton, in Ontario, Canada, to present existing neighbourhood-based policies as social determinants of health in housing, resource access, healthcare, transportation, and communal places. Age-friendly policy application gap examples and COVID-19's impact were included. Using a qualitative comparative case study method, we found policies were not specifically designed to address older adults' gentrification needs. With the call for age-friendly designations, the role of gentrification in neighbourhoods with older populations must be included. We call for gentrification-specific policies for older adults to provide greater safeguards especially when events such as COVID-19 compete for existing, over-stretched resources.