Play isn’t just for children. It encourages physical activity, sparks creativity, builds community cohesion, combats loneliness, and even fights ageism. So why don’t we design communities that facilitate play for all age groups and that support the health and well-being of rapidly aging populations?

Aging Playfully pursues an entirely new direction in community planning, policy, and research to support health and well-being in later life. Maxwell Hartt develops and applies conceptual models; analyzes play behaviour in a Florida retirement community; assesses older adults’ perceptions of play and public space in Victoria, British Columbia; and interviews professional planners, experts on aging, and play practitioners from around the world. He distills this work into practical guidelines for designing truly age-friendly communities that encourage play and playful interaction.

Aging Playfully is a call to scholars, planners, policy makers, and community members to challenge societal assumptions and expectations regarding later life, to reimagine the possibilities of play, and to rethink the potential of age-friendly planning.