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WHO's new evidence mega-map charts the landscape of healthy aging research. The World Health Organization has released an interactive mega-map synthesizing evidence from 1,542 systematic reviews on age-friendly environments. While robust evidence exists for health services and social participation, major gaps remain in transportation, rural settings, and low- and middle-income countries — signaling where research and investment are urgently needed.
The World Health Organization has launched a first-of-its-kind interactive mega-map on age-friendly environments, consolidating evidence from 1,542 systematic reviews and three evidence-and-gap maps published between 2002 and 2025. The tool spans all eight WHO domains of age-friendly cities and communities — from housing and transportation to social inclusion and civic participation — giving policymakers, researchers, and practitioners a single, navigable view of the global evidence landscape.
The picture that emerges is one of striking imbalance. Evidence is plentiful around community support, health services, and social participation, but thin when it comes to transportation, civic engagement, and respect and social inclusion — areas that profoundly shape older adults' daily lives. Rural settings and low- and middle-income countries are especially underrepresented, and only two systematic reviews examined age-friendly programmes as a whole.
Key Takeaways:
Why it matters: As global populations age rapidly, the gap between evidence and action in age-friendly policy can have real consequences for older adults' health, mobility, and social connectedness. This mega-map is a critical step toward directing research dollars and policy efforts where they're needed most.
