Canada's baby boom generation is about to turn sixty-five. In barely a decade, the number of senior citizens in every city, town, and village will double - and most communities are largely unprepared to deal with the consequences for housing, transportation, and community services.

Gerald Hodge uses the latest statistics to map the current and future spatial distribution of Canada's seniors and their diversity. Drawing on tested aging-environmental research and years of planning experience, he delineates the everyday geography of seniors and proposes a comprehensive framework for all communities - large and small, urban, suburban, and rural - that will allow them to respond to the needs of a rapidly aging population while recognizing the importance of maintaining the independence of their seniors.

The Geography of Aging provides an essential perspective for gerontologists, community planners, service providers, and caregivers, as well as provincial and local policy-makers, to enable them to better respond to the needs of senior citizens now and in the future.

Gerald Hodge (1931-2017), one of Canada's foremost community and regional planners, is the author of Planning Canadian Communities, now in its fifth edition.

Gerald Hodge's profile page

"Hodge makes a convincing case for recognizing the diversity of community contexts within which seniors reside and provides a helpful roadmap for community officials to allow them to take seriously the work of enhancing seniors' independence." Neil Hanlon, University of Northern British Columbia

"Hodge is well acquainted with his subject matter and this manuscript makes an original and important contribution to the field. This is an important and timely work." Denise Cloutier-Fisher, University of Victoria

"An excellent and easily accessible introduction to aging and planning suitable for readers in both planning and gerontology." Canadian Journal on Aging

"Gerald Hodge's The Geography of Aging is an impressive contribution that can well serve nongerontologists, gerontology students, and seasoned gerontologists. And although Hodge writes with a focus on the Canadian context of boomers and the community response, it would be wise of American readers in particular to pay attention because of similarities between the two countries' cultures, demographics, geographies, and challenges/opportunities." Geographical Gerontology

"A well-timed text." Plan Canada

"An excellent and easily accessible introduction to aging and planning suitable for readers in both planning and gerontology." Canadian Journal on Aging