Chiayi City has been assigned by the central government to seek membership in the WHO’s global network of age-friendly cities, becoming the first city in Taiwan chosen to do so.
Chiayi Mayor Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠) said yesterday that a ceremony would be held later in the day to launch the city’s plans to make itself an age-friendly city, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in attendance.
Once those plans are implemented, the city will formally submit an application to the WHO for network membership, she said.
According to the local government, New York is the only member of the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities.
Chiayi, touted as a city with abundant medical treatment and healthcare resources, was selected by the Department of Health’s Bureau of Health Promotion to be the first city in Taiwan to bid for membership in the network.
“We hope to build an age-friendly space that contributes to active and healthy aging in our society,” Huang said.
In Chiayi, the number of citizens aged 65 and above reached 7.05 percent of the population in 1993, thus becoming an “aging society” under the UN standard of 7 percent.
Furthermore, the city’s aging population grew to 10.8 percent by the end of last year, Huang said.
“It reflects the importance of building an age-friendly city,” she said.
Addressing the city’s plans to achieve this goal, Huang said the city would follow the WHO’s guidelines for developing an age-friendly living environment.
These guidelines fall into eight categories, including outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services.
Based on the guidelines, Chiayi will first conduct an assessment of how age-friendly its infrastructure and social services are for the elderly, then develop a strategic plan to create a more age-friendly urban environment before submitting the application, the city government said.
Becoming Taiwan’s first city to tap into the WHO program would be “an honor and a challenge,” which Chiayi will do its best to achieve, Huang said.
The WHO started the project in 2006 to foster age-friendly environments that encourage “active aging by optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.”
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