Mobilising Cross-Sectoral Collaboration in Creating Age-Friendly Cities: Case Studies from Akita and Manchester

Developing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCCs) is an increasingly popular policy response to supporting ageing populations. AFCC programmes rely on cross-sectoral collaboration, involving partnerships among diverse stakeholders working across sectors to address shared goals. However, there remains a limited understanding of what mechanisms and strategies drive collaboration among diverse actors within age-friendly cities. To address this gap, this empirical paper draws on examples from a comparative case study across Akita (Japan) and Manchester (UK), two cities with distinct demographic profiles but both with a longstanding commitment to the age-friendly approach. Case studies were created through a range of data collection methods, namely, a review of secondary data sources, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, and fieldwork in each city. Key insights from the case studies relating to the mobilisation of cross-sectoral collaboration were categorised into three themes: leadership and influencing, co-production, and place-based working. These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive; collaboration building through co-production and place-based working is essential to deliver age-friendly programmes, but these mechanisms rely on leadership and influence. Therefore, it is recommended that all three mechanisms be used to effectively mobilise cross-sectoral collaborations to collectively create AFCC and support healthy ageing.