Empowering Older Adults

This chapter explores how capability approaches and self-reliance frameworks support older adults in adapting to global crises by leveraging local and sustainable neighborhood resources. In the face of climate change, pandemics, and economic disruption, older populations often face increased vulnerability and marginalisation. By applying Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's capability theory alongside community development models, the chapter argues that ageing-in-place strategies anchored in local social capital, environmental assets, and participatory planning can significantly enhance well-being, autonomy, and adaptive capacity. Case studies from global contexts—including urban gardening, community kitchens, and age-friendly infrastructures—demonstrate how older adults can be empowered as active agents of resilience. The chapter concludes by proposing a framework for integrating capability-based thinking into policy, urban planning, and gerontological practice, thereby promoting sustainable and dignified ageing within neighborhoods.