AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure

Project Overview

For assistive technology to change lives, it needs to be supported by an accessible and enabling environment. This means that the cities and buildings we live in need to be accessible and inclusive – so that everyone can experience the world around them in a fair and equal way. This calls for evidence, strategies and tools that support cities to embed inclusive design in city planning, urban development, infrastructure, and all aspects of the built environment. The AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure case studies will provide this evidence and develop recommendations for action.

Globally, there is increasing attention on inclusive cities as a vital aspect of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, but there is still limited evidence and guidance on the opportunity of inclusive or universal design and we need to involve persons with disabilities in the inclusive city agenda. We want to co-design solutions with persons with disabilities and deliver ideas for tangible action to shape inclusive cities. Each case study is delivered in partnership with local organisations and offers in depth insights and recommendation specific to the city, we will then bring together the different case studies to develop a comparison report and a global action report.

The Challenge

GDI Hub is developing a global inclusive design strategy, to do this we need evidence on the current state of cities, the lived experiences of persons with disabilities living in those cities and to understand the perspectives of practitioners and policy-makers who help shape the built environment and have the capacity to lead change.

The questions we are asking include:

• What current policy, regulation, guidelines or good practice exist for an inclusive built environment?
• How is inclusive design understood? Is it being implemented?
• What does good inclusive infrastructure look like?
• What is it like to live with a disability in each city?
• How can inclusive infrastructure support AT use?

The Research

We’re conducting six case studies in six cities around the world over a period of 3 years to build global knowledge on inclusive design. We’re engaging key stakeholder groups and aim to bring together their insights to develop practical recommendations through interviews, photo diaries, co-design workshops and multi-stakeholder workshops. These stakeholder include:

1. People: Persons with Disabilities living in these cities and their wider communities
2. Practice: Architects, urban planners, construction industry professionals
3. Policy: City leadership, decision-makers, policy-makers

Outputs

Healthy City Design Conference Presentation: ‘Integrating inclusion and resilience through inclusive design practice: challenges and opportunities for designing with disabled people in lower- and middle-income countries’

• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Case Study report
• Dissemination Event and Stakeholder Engagement in Mongolia
• Upcoming: India and Indonesia Case Study reports, 2 conference presentations
• Opportunities and challenges for disability inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic
  
• Inclusive design research in a pandemic
• Co-design workshop in Varanasi
• AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure Sub-programme

Project Team