{"id":1917,"date":"2025-03-18T11:01:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T14:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/?page_id=1917"},"modified":"2025-03-18T12:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:17:59","slug":"realising-human-diversity-in-the-built-environment-through-universal-design","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/design-needs\/exteriors-and-interiors\/realising-human-diversity-in-the-built-environment-through-universal-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Realising Human Diversity in the Built Environment through Universal Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be able to access and use the built environment is a fundamental part of human
\nrights.
\nAll people are affected by the design of the built environment in diverse ways. It
\nconcerns health and well-being, and our opportunities to participate in society.
\nThis doctoral thesis explores how one can achieve more equal and inclusive living
\nenvironments by using Universal Design (UD) to consider human diversity in all
\nstages of planning and construction. This thesis examines the relationship between
\nthe built environment and the users’ abilities, where there is often a gap, one that we
\nfrequently talk about in terms of inaccessibility. This gap is a common reason why
\npeople are excluded from the built environment and participation in society.
\nPeople are excluded from the built environment despite the laws, regulations, and
\nconventions stating that what is built must also be accessible and usable for people
\nwith reduced mobility or orientation. This ongoing exclusion of persons with
\ndisabilities does not result from a lack of knowledge on how to remedy existing
\nobstacles and how to avoid creating new ones. Other reasons must be found.
\nThere is a need to increase knowledge on how to implement UD and accessibility.
\nThis should be done not only on the detailed level, but along the entire process from
\nvision to outcome, including the connections between different scales: the building
\nor place, the city level, and the societal level.
\nThe aim of the thesis is to provide new knowledge and solutions on how UD can be
\nimplemented in urban development and in the built environment. The findings
\nincrease knowledge on how practices can be changed through UD by taking human
\ndiversity more into account when buildings and places are planned and constructed.
\nThe theoretical framework involves different phenomena related to the external
\nconditions that affect the planning and construction processes of today: forms of
\ngovernance, the view of the users of the built environment and how they are
\ncategorised, choices and priorities in the planning process, and theories of UD.
\nTriangulation was used in the studies as a research strategy, to test the validity and
\nincrease the reliability of the findings, The consistency of the findings was crosschecked using different methods and data sources: document study (Study 1);
\nmultiple case study, interviews, and workshops (Study 2); and go-along interviews
\nin three different cities (Study 3). The participants in Studies 2 and 3 included
\nofficials in the cities involved, professional groups linked to the construction
\nindustry, and citizens.
\n10
\nThe thesis is based on research conducted in three studies, which resulted in in five
\npapers. The findings show a picture of numerous factors that influence the
\nconditions for how human diversity is included or not in urban development
\nprocesses. The reasons why inaccessibility and exclusion of people with disabilities
\noccur in the built environment can be searched for in the norms and categorisations
\nof the users, and in current urban building trends and planning practices. Thought
\npatterns in the image of the users, which are visible early in the process, are drivers
\nbehind exclusion and separate solutions for some user groups, such as persons with
\ndisabilities and older persons. Urban planning trends, such as densification, are
\nphenomena that can have negative effects on the implementation of UD in both the
\nprocesses and the built environment. This involves the reduction of open spaces and
\ngreen areas, increased noise, lack of daylight, restrictions on modes of transports
\nand more. Complex environments, from a human diversity point of view, are found
\nin mixed-use ideals like \u2018shared space\u2019. Furthermore, examples came to the fore of
\nhow the imbalance between sustainability dimensions resulted in unrealistically
\nhigh demands on users\u2019 abilities.
\nAnother picture emerges from examples of how and under what circumstances
\nUniversal Design can be supported and implemented through the process and the
\noutcome. It became clear in Study 2 that the presence of UD was more evident in
\nthe reconstruction of older buildings than in newly constructed ones. The successes
\nof the remodelling projects can be sought in the focus of the projects (updating a
\nbuilding to today’s values, increasing the number of users, removing barriers, etc.)
\nand the role of the developer. In contrast to the new building projects, the city was
\nthe owner and project manager, with completely different values on which the
\nprojects were based, and the ability not to limit its motives for the sake of financial
\nprofit.
\nSome clear patterns emerged when examining the details in the built environment.
\nTwo very successful strategies that supported UD and equal use were 1) to place
\nlow demands on users\u2019 abilities, to avoid special solutions and the separation of
\nusers, and 2) to shift the focus from person to function. As an outcome of the
\nfindings, ten qualities and features are presented as critical factors to handle in the
\nbuilt environment on a city level.
\nThe findings show the need for several changes. This applies, for example, to the
\nview of the user of the built environment. What drives inequality is an unrealistic
\nand normative image of the users\u2019 abilities, and a lack of understanding of disability
\nas a part of the human condition. All studies demonstrate the importance of
\nprotecting significant societal goals throughout the planning and construction
\n11
\nprocesses. This indicates that the public actors must take greater responsibility to
\nlead planning processes and follow up on the results.
\nThe municipalities are at the forefront of defending social goals and operationalising
\nconventions that Sweden as a nation has undertaken to follow, an example being the
\nUN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The capacity among
\nprofessionals to shape a built environment on equal conditions can and should be
\nstrengthened. Awareness of the consequences for different users, and the long-term
\ncosts of planning paradigms such as densification and concepts such as shared
\nspace, must increase.
\nThe findings also show how UD needs to be implemented in the entire process \u2013
\nfrom idea to finished construction \u2013 and on a coherent scale, from overarching goals
\nto detailed design, in harmony with the surrounding environment and the overall
\nsocietal goals.
\nThe complete thesis can be found at this link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To be able to access and use the built environment is a fundamental part of human rights. All people are affected by the design of the built environment in diverse ways. It concerns health and well-being, and our opportunities to participate in society. This doctoral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":430,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1917","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1918,"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1917\/revisions\/1918"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingourpath.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}