For the Smart, the Curious, and the Changemakers

Residents and Community Members

Older adults, caregivers, and families will discover how thoughtfully designed parks can directly support mobility, brain health, social connection, and overall well-being. This book helps residents understand what age-ready public spaces look like—and empowers them to advocate for parks that make communities healthier, more joyful, and more inclusive for all generations.

City and Municipal Officials

Residents and Community Members

For policymakers, parks directors, and community leaders, this book provides a practical framework for building cities that support healthy aging. You’ll learn how senior-centric park design advances public health goals, aligns with age-friendly policy initiatives, enhances livability indexes, and strengthens economic vitality. It offers clear strategies for turning underperforming spaces into high-impact public assets.

Urban Planners

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

Urban planners will find actionable insight into site selection, zoning, land use, transportation links, accessibility standards, and community health data that inform senior-focused park planning. This book bridges planning principles with public-health outcomes, giving planners a powerful tool for shaping built environments that foster movement, belonging, and intergenerational engagement.

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

For landscape architects, this book shows how to elevate design beyond aesthetics by integrating neuromotor, sensory, cognitive, and social elements into outdoor environments. It outlines evidence-based design strategies, equipment selection guidance, layout principles, and programmatic layers that transform traditional parks into therapeutic, dementia-friendly, and wellness-supportive spaces.

It's Not a Park, It's a Movement

Dr. Paul offers up an enlightened perspective on the many possibilities and how to get organized to address the numerous challenges any new development project faces. It gets you quickly up the learning curve with topics that take you from good intentions to amazing possibilities.

Scott Fulton, Author of WHEALTHSPAN and FUNCTION

We are working on a new community and this is a helpful guide to make sure we are making spaces which will truly uplift older adults by making outdoor spaces available, engaging, and fulfilling in a variety of demensions of health!

Rob Liebreich, CEO and President at Goodwin Living

Evidence-based design isn't just a buzzword. Dr. Paul has created a framework that intentionally supports mobility, social connection, and outdoor activity for older adults. This isn't reactive care. It's proactive thriving! And she's done the research to back it up.

Jewell Buenavista, Speaker and Educator

What a jam-packed guide and toolkit for exploring options to build a park centered on aging adults and their needs, abilities and wants. The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking about how my community might be able to bring a multi-sector group together to discuss possibilities for a park like this. I even took it over to our active adult program director and facility manager to talk about planting some seeds. (She gets the book next.) I have to say the research referenced and provided in the guide is impressive. The need for Senior/Aging Adult infrastructure is well-documented with some great demographics and data. I like how the book is arranged in guidebook form. It can almost function as a workbook for communities who are ready to get engaged in the process.-

Jo Burns, Colorado Public Health/Parks and Recreation Collaborative

What You'll Learn Inside

The Case for Senior Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Why traditional parks underserve older adults
How parks function as essential health infrastructure
The public health and economic upside of designing for aging
The Six Tenets of Healthy Aging

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Pathways, surfacing, slopes, amenities
Features that promote balance, strength, and safe movement
Cognitive and physical elements that optimize function and engagement

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

How to assess existing parks and public spaces
Phasing strategies and budget scenarios
Working with departments, partners, and funders

Real-World Examples & Tools

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Case studies including the SeniorScapes park model
Checklists, assessment rubrics, and design prompts
Templates you can adapt for your community

Why Cities Can't Wait

The older adult population is growing faster than our infrastructure is adapting. Chronic disease, mobility loss, and isolation are rising just as many communities are doubling down on playgrounds for toddlers, performance spaces for athletes, and social hubs for dogs — while leaving older adults sitting on benches.

This book reframes parks as critical public health infrastructure and offers a way for cities to:

Reduce fall risk and mobility decline
Support brain health and social connection
Align with AARP, WHO, and age-friendly community frameworks
Demonstrate visible, measurable commitment to healthy aging

About the Author

Dr. Sue Paul, OTR/L, MBA is an occupational therapist, senior living leader, and consultant specializing in healthy aging, brain health, and the built environment. As Founder and Executive Director of SeniorScapes, Inc.and SeniorScapes Solutions, she has led the creation of a pioneering SeniorScapes®️ park that reimagines what public space can be for older adults.

Sue serves as Senior Director of Well-being and Brain Health for a multi-site senior living organization, where she develops and oversees wellness and brain health programs across ten communities. Her work bridges gerontology, rehabilitation, public health, and urban design, translating research into practical solutions for cities and organizations.

She is a frequent speaker on healthy aging, age-inclusive design, and innovative models of community infrastructure — and believes that every community deserves at least one park intentionally designed for older adults.

Senior Parks: Healthy Aging by Design

For the Smart, the Curious, and the Changemakers

Residents and Community Members

Residents and Community Members

Residents and Community Members

City and Municipal Officials

Residents and Community Members

Residents and Community Members

Urban Planners

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

Lansdcape Architects / Designers

It's Not a Park, It's a Movement

What You'll Learn Inside

The Case for Senior Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Design Principles for Age-Friendly Parks

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Real-World Examples & Tools

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Implementation Roadmap for Cities

Why Cities Can't Wait

About the Author

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