Recreational well-being and the neglected older adult play: How ageism and built environment affect female seniors in Hong Kong?

While age-friendly initiatives increasingly recognise the importance of play for recreational well-being in later life, its conceptualisation and the specific mechanisms driving it remain significantly underexplored, particularly among female older adults (FOAs). Addressing this critical gap, our study focuses on FOAs in Hong Kong’s high-density public housing estates (PHEs), a vital yet overlooked demographic in urban ageing research. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 52 participants, we integrated thematic analysis with fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. This approach elucidates the complex interplay of factors facilitating FOAs’ playful engagement, with a specific focus on the roles of ageism and the built environment. Our findings reveal a multi-dimensional framework of FOA play, delineating five primary dimensions: Embodied Health Instrumentality, Collective Participation, Organisational Dependency, Generational Temporalities, and Implicit Playful Mindset. FOAs conceptualise play as a dual-purpose pursuit, bridging functional imperatives (e.g. health maintenance, cognitive stimulation) and recreational vitality (e.g. social engagement, emotional regulation). The fsQCA results yielded six distinct configurations that enable play, highlighting health aspirations and collective participation as core enablers, frequently synergised with an implicit playful mindset. Peripheral yet significant factors encompass favourable environmental quality, financial freedom, and the absence of loneliness or ageism. Beyond dismantling ageist stereotypes, this research establishes play as a critical missing element in contemporary age-friendly urban discourse. These findings offer transformative insights for reimagining inclusive urban environments that authentically accommodate diverse recreational expressions and combat the pervasive loneliness crisis among older adults in high-density contexts.