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Tine Buffel

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Tine Buffel is a sociologist and social gerontologist at the University of Manchester, where she is Professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology and founding director of the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG).[1][2] Her research focuses on urban ageing, age-friendly cities and communities, inequalities in later life, and participatory research with older people.[1][3] She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2024.[4]

Education and career

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Buffel received a master's degree in Adult Educational Sciences from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 2006, completing a thesis on the educational function of socio-cultural adult work.[5][6] She subsequently worked at VUB as a doctoral researcher, research associate, and lecturer in Educational Sciences before joining the University of Manchester in 2012.[3] She is also a guest professor in Educational Sciences at VUB.[7]

Buffel is a member of the World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group for Measurement, Monitoring and Evaluation of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.[8]

Research

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Buffel's research has focused on the relationship between ageing and urban change. In a 2012 article with Chris Phillipson and Thomas Scharf, she examined the age-friendly city model in the context of competing commercial, political, and social interests.[6] Buffel and Phillipson later considered the effects of globalisation, urban regeneration, and austerity on age-friendly policies.[9][10] Her work has addressed inequalities within age-friendly programmes, including differences between affluent and disadvantaged urban communities.[11][12]

Buffel has also used participatory methods in which older residents take part as co-researchers. In 2018, she published research from a Manchester project in which 18 older residents were trained as co-researchers and interviewed people experiencing social isolation.[13] Older residents were involved in the design, implementation, and analysis of the research, and some continued to campaign on neighbourhood issues, including the restoration of a local bus service.[14] MUARG has continued to use co-research methods and to work with local and regional policymakers in Manchester.[1]

Buffel co-edited Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective with Sophie Handler and Phillipson in 2018. The volume brought together research on age-friendly policies and projects in Europe, Asia, and Australia, including the involvement of older people in developing age-friendly communities.[15][16][17]

With Phillipson, Buffel wrote Ageing in Place in Urban Environments: Critical Perspectives, published in 2023, which examined ageing in place in relation to urbanisation, gentrification, housing, and inequality.[18] In 2024, Buffel, Patty Doran, and Sophie Yarker edited Reimagining Age-Friendly Communities: Urban Ageing and Spatial Justice, which focused on urban inequality, co-production, and spatial justice in age-friendly communities.[19][20]

In 2025, Buffel and Phillipson examined community-based approaches to ageing in place, including village organisations, naturally occurring retirement communities, cohousing, and compassionate communities.[21] Their research considered the infrastructure, local services, and community support needed to enable older people to remain in their homes and neighbourhoods, particularly in disadvantaged areas.[21][22]

Public engagement

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In March 2025, Buffel gave a plenary address at the Age-Friendly Futures Summit in Manchester on inequalities affecting older people living in areas of multiple deprivation.[23] The summit was co-hosted by the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with the World Health Organization, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the Centre for Ageing Better.[23]

Recognition

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The Researching Age-friendly Neighbourhoods project, on which Buffel was a researcher, received the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement's Engage Award in the Working in Partnership category in 2016.[14] Buffel was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2024.[4] In 2026, MUARG received the Team Achievement Award at the Vivensa Academy Excellence Awards.[24]

Selected works

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  • Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris; Scharf, Thomas (2012). "Ageing in urban environments: Developing 'age-friendly' cities". Critical Social Policy. 32 (4): 597–617. doi:10.1177/0261018311430457.
  • Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2016). "Can global cities be 'age-friendly cities'? Urban development and ageing populations". Cities. 55: 94–100. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2016.03.016.
  • Buffel, Tine (2018). "Social research and co-production with older people: Developing age-friendly communities". Journal of Aging Studies. 44: 52–60. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2018.01.012.
  • Buffel, Tine; Handler, Sophie; Phillipson, Chris, eds. (2018). Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective. Bristol: Policy Press.
  • Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2023). Ageing in Place in Urban Environments: Critical Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Buffel, Tine; Doran, Patty; Yarker, Sophie, eds. (2024). Reimagining Age-Friendly Communities: Urban Ageing and Spatial Justice. Bristol: Policy Press.
  • Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2025). "Ageing in place in urban environments: Building collaborative organisations for later life". European Journal of Ageing. 22: 47. doi:10.1007/s10433-025-00875-9.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "'Las ciudades deberían ser el mejor lugar para envejecer, pero muchas veces ocurre lo contrario'" [Cities should be the best place to grow old, but often the opposite occurs]. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (in Spanish). University of Chile. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Our people". Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group. University of Manchester. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Tine Buffel". Research Explorer. University of Manchester. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 "The Academy of Social Sciences welcomes 41 leading social scientists to its Fellowship". Academy of Social Sciences. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Buffel, Tine (2006). Eigen-aardig educatief: Een exploratief onderzoek naar de eigenschappen en randvoorwaarden van de educatieve functie in het sociaal cultureel volwassenenwerk (Master's thesis). Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
  6. 1 2 Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris; Scharf, Thomas (2012). "Ageing in urban environments: Developing 'age-friendly' cities". Critical Social Policy. 32 (4): 597–617. doi:10.1177/0261018311430457.
  7. ↑ "Tine Buffel". Vrije Universiteit Brussel Research Portal. Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "Technical Advisory Group for Measurement, Monitoring and Evaluation of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing". World Health Organization. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2016). "Can global cities be 'age-friendly cities'? Urban development and ageing populations". Cities. 55: 94–100. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2016.03.016.
  10. ↑ Torku, Alex; Chan, Albert Ping Chuen; Yung, Esther Hiu Kwan (2021). "Age-friendly cities and communities: A review and future directions". Ageing & Society. 41 (10): 2242–2279. doi:10.1017/S0144686X20000239.
  11. ↑ "The Age-Friendly City Can't Just Be for the Wealthy". CityLab. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "CASE Scientific Session with Tine Buffel about the age-friendly movement". Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments. Lund University. 22 February 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Buffel, Tine (2018). "Social research and co-production with older people: Developing age-friendly communities". Journal of Aging Studies. 44: 52–60. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2018.01.012. PMID 29502790.
  14. 1 2 "Researching Age-friendly Neighbourhoods". National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Buffel, Tine; Handler, Sophie; Phillipson, Chris, eds. (2018). Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447331315.
  16. ↑ Khambhaita, Priya (2019). "Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler and Chris Philipson (eds), Age-friendly Cities and Communities – A Global Perspective". Ageing & Society. 39 (7): 1552–1553. doi:10.1017/S0144686X19000485.
  17. ↑ Gilroy, Rose (2019). "A review of 'Age friendly cities and communities: a global perspective', edited by Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler and Chris Phillipson". International Journal of Housing Policy. 19 (1): 131–132. doi:10.1080/19491247.2018.1555971.
  18. ↑ Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2023). Ageing in Place in Urban Environments: Critical Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003229322.
  19. ↑ Buffel, Tine; Doran, Patty; Yarker, Sophie, eds. (2024). Reimagining Age-Friendly Communities: Urban Ageing and Spatial Justice. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447368557.
  20. ↑ Wu, Hui (2026). "Tine Buffel, Patty Doran and Sophie Yarker (eds), Reimagining Age-Friendly Communities: Urban Ageing and Spatial Justice". Ageing & Society. 46: e12. doi:10.1017/S0144686X25100366.
  21. 1 2 Buffel, Tine; Phillipson, Chris (2025). "Ageing in place in urban environments: Building collaborative organisations for later life". European Journal of Ageing. 22: 47. doi:10.1007/s10433-025-00875-9.
  22. ↑ "Study warns cities 'failing to support older residents' as they age". Housing Digital. 6 October 2025. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Age-friendly futures explored at World Health Organisation summit co-hosted by the University". Manchester School of Architecture. Manchester Metropolitan University. 31 March 2025. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "2026 Academy Excellence Award winners announced". Vivensa Foundation. 24 April 2026. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
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