Mayor Caldwell signs Best Cities for Successful Aging Pledge

News Release from City and County of Honolulu October 22, 2014

Honolulu – Making Honolulu an Age Friendly City is a major priority for Mayor Kirk Caldwell.  To further that goal, he recently pledged to improve the lives of older adults and to enable older residents to improve lives across the age spectrum by signing the Milken Institute’s Best Cities for Successful Aging Mayor’s Pledge.

The pledge, part of the Institute’s Best Cities for Successful Aging initiative, comes from the Best Cities for Successful Aging Advisory Committee, an important group of thought leaders and experts in the field who are advising the Institute in its work on aging. The pledge may be viewed at: www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/view/662.

“I am committed to making Honolulu one of the Best Cities for Successful Aging,” said Mayor Caldwell.  “This is an initiative that will serve generations of Honolulu residents, of every age, in almost every aspect of their lives.  The concept is simple – who doesn’t want to live in a more age friendly city?  The roadmap is not so simple; it is, in fact, all encompassing.  Creating a city for successful aging involves incorporating age friendly values into everything we do – every plan, every project, every design.  I’m excited to be leading Honolulu in this effort, and I believe that it will be one of the most rewarding things I do as Mayor.”

By signing the pledge, Mayor Caldwell has agreed to take steps, such as increasing housing, health, and transportation options that suit our seniors’ varied needs.  Mayor Caldwell has also committed to providing opportunities for older adults to work for the city through volunteer activity and encore careers across the government, nonprofit, and private sectors.

“Enabling successful aging is a central issue of urban communities and municipal leaders,” said Milken Institute President Paul Irving. “The Best Cities for Successful Aging Mayor’s Pledge unites mayors in a commitment to enhance life for the largest-ever population of older adults in the U.S., and to ensure a better future for residents of all ages. We applaud Mayor Caldwell for his leadership in signing the Pledge.”

Mayor Caldwell has also teamed with AARP Hawaii and the World Health Organization (WHO) to make the City and County of Honolulu a participant in the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities initiative.  For more information, please visit www.who.int/ageing .

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, with a mission to improve lives around the world by advancing innovative economic and policy solutions that create jobs, widen access to capital, and improve health.  For more information, please visit www.milkeninstitute.org

-END-