Another dimension of livability that is customarily

Another dimension of livability that is customarily overlooked by either professional or global ranking surveys relates to the quality of life concerns of older adults. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in the United States has emphasized the need to embed the concerns of the older population into policy and decision-making at all levels. Such concerns include active representation and participation in local zoning boards, metropolitan planning agencies, and other organizations that influence Bindarit design and development. AARP argues that people aged 50 years and above must be given affordable housing and healthcare, appropriate transportation services, as well as community and building designs that support their limited accessibility and mobility. Housing strategies that are proposed for older adults include co-housing, shared housing, inter-generational housing, senior communities, and assisted living. Mobility is not simply defined in terms of conventional transportation options, such as driving, public transit, and walking. The elderly may need supplementary or paratransit services, such as vans or mini-buses, on flexible routes and schedules. Walking can also be problematic if roads are not well-lit and equipped with accessibility ramps, visible signage, and safe crossings. Some of the latter concerns are shared by professional manifestos and incorporated into global ranking tools, but not as envisioned by AARP, which focuses on service delivery and advocacy for the needs of older adults at private, non-profit, and voluntary organizations, as well as at all government levels (Fidler et al., 2011). Only few longitudinal studies have investigated urban livability; the bulk of academic, professional, and world ranking surveys focus on cross-sectional measurements and reflect a static conceptualization of livability. The underlying social, economic, and environmental parameters of livability vary across space and time and are generally conditioned by human perception, lifestyle choices, social status, gender, and stage of life. Young and old, men and women, rich and poor, and lifelong and short-term residents considerably differ from each other in terms of their social space preferences, including homes, public realm, goods and services, work, and entertainment (Champion, 2012; Florida, 2008; Ruth and Franklin, 2014). This comparison is performed not to dilute the concept of livability but to broaden its scope and conceptual limits to encompass the critical quality of life concerns that shape the perspectives on livability of people.
Synthesis and urban policy challenges At the risk of sounding cliché, this study advocates an interdisciplinary approach that considers all the urban livability aspects that are delineated within the design and planning literature as well as the global ranking surveys. Each presented view offers a unique perspective on quality of life and addresses the important dimensions of urban livability. In the broadest sense, these views have all addressed livability within the triple bottom line framework that is highly affiliated with sustainability, environment, economy, and society. The tripartite construction is perceived by Regulatory gene study as a convenient analytical framework of highly interconnected and overlapping concepts, regardless of whether from a sustainability or livability backdrop. Despite not being specific to urban environments, Musacchio׳s 6Es of landscape sustainability (2009) deconstructs the society dimension into four areas, namely, esthetics, ethics, equity, and experience. The characteristics delineated under these four categories relate to various aspects that cut across design, planning, and ranking tools. This study concurs with Van Kamp et al. (2003), who contend that the broad range of disciplines involved in environmental, behavioral, well-being, and urban studies, with each using their own vocabulary and measurement tools, hinders the formation of a consensus for developing an interdisciplinary perspective toward urban livability. Apart from disciplinary divides, measuring urban livability across cultural and societal boundaries is extremely difficult in the absence of cross-cultural comparisons of the determinants of quality of life. The questions on the basic well-being parameters of individuals and households irrespective of time, place, and culture remain unanswered. Only a few studies have examined the manner in which personal characteristics can affect the perception of environmental well-being of individuals. Longitudinal studies that examine perceptual and lifestyle choices across gender, age, and social status are extremely important in constructing a policy toolbox that helps governments assess, monitor, and plan developments that contribute to urban livability. Constructing an interdisciplinary conceptual framework is the first step in furthering the current understanding of urban livability. This step must be followed by developing multidimensional indicators for assessing and cross-referencing livability concerns in different parts of the world. The stakeholders in this process must include citizens, scholars, professionals, as well as policy and decision makers to ensure the viability of the proposed livability tools across different cultures, places, and scales of urban development.