Category: Research papers for built environment

Academic papers and publications

Access doesn’t guarantee social participation

Library building with wide level paved pathway to the entrance. Picture taken in Berrigan NSW.It’s all very well being able to physically access the built environment, but access doesn’t guarantee social participation. Just considering how the shapes, sizes and ages of different bodies physically interact with the built environment is not enough. If universal design is about increasing access as well as physical and mental wellbeing then there is more work to do. This is the summation of a recent literature review that found social participation aspects of universal design is under researched. 

Including non-professionals and users of the built environment is key to creating an accessible and inclusive built environment. The final sentence in the literature review sums up a good call to action. Universal design straddles multiple boundaries. So the amount of collective universal design knowledge should be available and accessible to everyone. 

The literature review’s key question was “How is social participation represented in recent discourse around universal design in the built environment”. Studies from around the world were examined from 52 databases. The article includes the methodology and results. 

It is easier to measure whether a person can use a building (accessibility) than it is to measure what they are using it for (participation). The Australian Standards cover accessibility and this is why the story often ends here. 

The title of the article is, An integrated literature review of the current discourse around universal design in the built environment – is occupation the missing link?  The term “occupation” is from the occupational therapy field and means “doing things”. You will need institutional access for a free read. However, you can ask the lead author, Danielle Hitch at Deakin University, for a copy. Or Valerie Watchorn via ResearchGate.  

From the Abstract

Purpose: To synthesise current literature about universal design for built environments that promote social participation. These need to be personally meaningful activities, which people need, want or must do as part of their daily life.

Methods: 33 peer reviewed journal articles published January 2011–December 2017. 

Results: The current discourse is driven more by description, discussion, and commentary than empirical approaches. Much of the current discourse focuses on the person and the environment, but social participation isn’t a focus.

Conclusions: Including different perspectives would enable universal design to reach its full potential as a medium for social justice.

Achieving full participation through universal design

Achieving participation through UD front coverA European report sets the scene for promoting universal design and setting an action plan in motion. It promotes a universal design approach as a strategy to ensure equal and democratic rights in society for all individuals. It covers participation in: political and public life; cultural life; information and communication; education; employment; the built environment; transport; community living; legal protection; research and development; and awareness raising.

Examples of good practice are also included. It links well with the eight domains of life outlined in the WHO Age Friendly Cities and Communities program.

The title of the report is Achieving full participation through Universal Design.

Nordic Charter for Universal Design

UD logoThis article will be of interest to policy makers and anyone else interested in furthering universal design principles across all aspects of society. Using the 2012 UD Conference in Oslo as a catalyst, the Nordic countries worked together to create a common goal and strategy for dealing with the challenges of an ageing population as well as meeting their obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. Although published as an academic article in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, it is informative in the way it covers the built environment, products, services, and ICT.  

You will need institutional access for a free read, or request a copy from authors on ResearchGate. 

Good design: Not an added extra

A night time view of iconic buildings in Singapore. Good design not an added extra.What makes good design in the built environment, and who is it good for? And how do you measure the value of good design? These are vexed questions when it comes to everyone who has a stake in urban environments and housing.  Property developers will have one idea of value, designers another, and users and occupiers will have yet another view. So how to bring this together and measure good design? It’s not an added extra. 

An article by urban researchers and the Victorian Government Architect discusses these issues. The construction industry is considered a major contributor to Australia’s economy. Consequently, measurements of value will be in dry economic terms. But value to citizens cannot be measured with existing economic models. This requires qualitative measures – that is, asking people about their experiences with the built environment. The article has charts comparing different perspectives on design and value that make the points well.

The title of the article is Placing a value on good design for cities: evidence and prospects. Although published in 2014, the content remains relevant today. The article joins the dots between the public environment and our homes. 

“The challenge is to broaden from readily measured elements of design such as cost per square metre or apartment size, to include the less readily measured ones such as sense of security or good ventilation…” One architect argued that good design “improves the function and usability of the house, while reducing building costs.” This was achieve by reducing the “‘wasted’ hallway space by 5%, translating to a reduced construction cost of around $18,000.”

There is a companion article with an emphasis on apartment design. 

From the abstract

The built environment has value. Most commonly, that value is established through market prices for rent or purchase. Some elements of value, while recognised as important, are under-appreciated as it is difficult for them to be directly monetised or quantified in other terms. The value of the built environment to the community of public stakeholders, may differ and conflict with those of individual private stakeholders. 

This paper works with the proposition that good design in the built environment imparts value and that there is a need to articulate value in order to inform decisions about what is good design and how to achieve best value built environment outcomes.

Arguments for good design must rest on a rigorous evidence base, with a clear methodology for establishing a cost-benefit assessment process or other consistent measurement approaches. Research addressing these issues has been investigated internationally, particularly from the UK. However, the value of good design is under researched in Australia.

This paper presents a review of the current state of research into the value of good design for the built environment, both in Australia and internationally. Following this, methods to address key gaps for valuation are presented and steps for further research outlined.

 

Colour combinations for everyone

A Sydney transport signboard with bright pink headings. Colour combinations for everyone. Observations during the 2011 Tsunami disaster in Japan showed that the colour of signage matters a lot. A short research paper outlines the colours and colour combinations that are easily seen and interpreted quickly by people who have one of the colour blindness conditions. The result is colour combinations for everyone.

A bright pink sign saying Wynyard and directions to the station.The results of this study and other colour studies are reflected in the Japanese standards for the paint, printing and design industries. The colour scheme-set contains 20 colours and is divided into groups depending on whether things are small scale or large scale. Bright pink turned out to be a colour for large signage.  For more on the colours go to the Open Journal of Social Science and download the five page article, “Color Barrier Free Displays in Disaster Situations”.

 

Architecture and Health

Picture of Cabot Square, Canary Wharf, London showing an open paved space with attractive buildings on all sidesIt would seem that green spaces are only part of the story when it comes to urban design and health. Beautiful buildings also rate highly according to a study in the UK. However, beautiful landscapes need to be enjoyed by the whole population. But we still have architects thinking of children, disability inclusion, and ageing as a ‘tacked on’ afterthought or special add-on feature. Architecture and health go together.

Obvious ramps and rails detract from the look of the building for everyone. People who need them don’t like the look either. Beauty is lost when a place excludes and is inaccessible. 

The Sourceable article by Steve Hansen explains how beautiful architecture positively affects health. Based on research findings, green space did not always gain top spot with residents in urban areas. Being green does not necessarily make it “scenic”. The research involved participants viewing photographs of open space and buildings and rating them as scenic or un-scenic. The conclusion is that “scenic-ness” is more important to health than just being green.

Architecture built to heal

Hospitals and and health facilities are supposed to make us well, but are they designed with healing in mind? Michael Murphy’s TED talk critiques the design of spaces for healing. He asks, “if hospitals are making people sicker, where are the architects and designers to help us build and design hospitals that allow us to heal?” Michael’s talk begins with how his father’s illness caused him to study architecture.

Watch the 15 minute video in the link below. A transcript is also available:

 

Universal design and an historical city: a case study

A late evening view of the pedestrian area showing street lighting and pedestrians. Real life examples of taking a universal design approach to urban areas are few and far between. This is especially the case for established city areas including those that are heritage listed. So, a universal design case study from Konya, a heritage city in Turkey, makes an interesting subject for a case study. This city has a history of many settlements over thousands of years that were not designed for modern day needs.  

Using the 7 Principles of Universal Design, the researchers carefully analysed the pedestrian area to find out what improvements were needed to be more accessible and inclusive. They ranked circulation space, pedestrian crossings, building entrances, parking areas, transportation stops, wayfinding and street furniture for their level of access and inclusion. 

Each principle of universal design is applied methodically to each aspect of the built environment. Photographs, tables and graphs help illustrate their findings.

The article begins with an overview of universal design and similar terms and reminds us that this is not “design for people with disability”. The article concludes by highlighting the areas in most need of urgent attention based on the analysis.

The title of the article is, Universal Design in Urban Public Spaces: The Case of Zafer Pedestrian Zone / Konya-Turkey, and is available from ResearchGate. It is a good example of how to apply the 7 Principles of Universal Design. The 8 Goals of Universal Design can be used in the same way.

Abstract: Individuals in society who have different requirements and needs (disabled people, elders, children, pregnant women, parents with strollers etc.) go through many difficulties while accessing urban indoor and outdoor services due to the constraints originating from built environment. Universal design is the design of the environment and the product that can be used by all the people. With it’s inclusive and unifying characteristics, universal design has become a design approach that have been adopted by the academia during the recent years.

Planning and organizing the urban spaces with regard to the universal design principles will contribute to an increase in the life quality of all the people who use the city. This article aims to evaluate the usage of urban spaces in Zafer Pedestrian Zone, located in Konya city centre, within the scope of universal design principles. The concept of universal design in the historical process, universal design’s emergence process and it’s principles and significances has been discussed in the theoretical infrastructure section of the article. In the fieldwork section of the article, the suitability analysis of a chosen sample place’s space usage have been carried out scrutinisingly under four chosen headlines, with regards to the universal design principles and standards.

 

Accessible built environment: Ulaanbaatar case study

A distant shot of Ulaanbaatar in MongoliaWhat can a project in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia teach us about an accessible built environment? Well, probably not much, except that the issues are the same the world over. Doesn’t matter if it is a developed or developing country – there’s plenty of work to do. And that means doing more than drafting a policy. 

Many of the 163 signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are developing countries. And many of these are taking matters seriously. They see the economics of it – participation improves productivity. Australia has lots of strategies and plans for disability inclusion and age friendly environments. But will Australia start falling behind developing countries with our lack of coordinated action? Not a good look if so. 

Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia is the subject of a study funded by UKaid. The case study report reads similarly to many case studies and guidelines from developed countries. But the backdrop is very different. While countries like Mongolia engage with universal design and accessibility, we are still talking about these issues. However, the Sustainable Development Goals might help us get a move along. 

Key barriers

The Ulaanbaatar case study makes an interesting read.  The report summary lists the key barriers which look familiar:

• The way the city is evolving leaves limited space for accessibility. Urban planning and coordinated efforts should make space to build in accessibility

• A lack of knowledge on the cost of inclusive design is a barrier for decisionmakers. Good quality design should not cost more

• Laws and policies fall through on implementation. Mechanisms are needed to ensure implementation

• A lack of responsibility and accountability for inclusion in built environment and infrastructure projects means existing standards are not enforced

• A lack of good examples of local inclusive design solutions creates a barrier to motivating the general public and designers. Ulaanbaatar needs a vision for inclusive design.

The title of the report is, Inclusive Design and Accessibility of the Built Environment in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 

There is a report summary and a full report, which has insights and lessons learned. The project included access to assistive technology (aids and devices) as well as the built environment. Together universal design and assistive technology create the continuum of inclusion. The title of the report is, Inclusive Design and Accessibility of the Built Environment in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 

Mongolia ratified the UN Convention in 2016 and passed a law to protect the rights of people with disability. This began the drive towards accessible environments. The city does not have a history of urban planning so it is possible to begin with a relatively clean slate. 

Design, Dignity and Dementia Report

Front cover of the Design Dignity Dementia Report.The field of dementia and the design of the built environment is not well understood. Until now. Comprehensive Australian research has resulted in two volumes on the topic. The research looks at current best practice in design, and regional and cultural aspects. It also covers the importance of including people with dementia in the design process. The impact of the pandemic is another discussion point. People with dementia have the same human rights as others and that includes being treated with dignity.

The first volume is about the approach to the topic, the thorny issues, design processes and the 10 principles they developed. The second volume presents 84 case studies from around the world. A collection of day care centres, residential care facilities, and public buildings illustrate good design principles. The case studies include architectural detail and photos illustrate some of the design points.

The title of the report is, World Alzheimer Report 2020: Design, Dignity, Dementia: dementia-related design and the built environment. Authors are Prof Richard Fleming, John Zeisel and Kirsty Bennett.

The report launch webinar gives a good overview. Unfortunately the captions are auto-generated so they aren’t the best. However you can increase the speed and still understand the content.

Principles of dementia 

    • Unobtrusively reducing risks: Minimise risk factors such as steps and ensure safety features are as unobtrusive as possible.
    • Providing a human scale: The scale of buildings can impact the behaviour of people with dementia, so provide a human scale to minimise intimidating features.
    • Allowing people to see and be seen: The provision of an easily understood environment will help to minimise confusion. A literal line of sight should be clear for both residents, and staff.
    • Reducing unhelpful stimulation: Environments should be designed to minimise exposure to stimuli that are unhelpful, such as unnecessary or competing noises and the sight of unnecessary signs, posters, spaces and clutter.
    • Optimise helpful stimulation: Enabling the person living with dementia to see, hear and smell things that give them cues about where they are and what they can do, can help minimise their confusion and uncertainty.
    • Support movement and engagement: Providing a well-defined pathway of movement, free of obstacles, can support engagement with people and opportunities.
    • Create a familiar place: The use of familiar building design, furniture, fittings and colours affords people with dementia an opportunity to maintain their competence.
    • Provide opportunities to be alone or with others: A variety of spaces, some for quiet conversation and some for larger groups, as well as spaces where people can be by themselves, gives people with dementia a choice to how they spend their time.
    • Link to the community: The more an environment enables visitors to drop in easily and enjoy being in places that encourage interaction, the more the sense of identity that comes from spending time with loved ones and others is reinforced.
    • Design in response to vision for way of life: The way of life offered needs to be clearly stated and the building designed both to support it and to make it evident to the residents and staff.

Urban public space and active ageing

An older man and woman are walking away from the camera down a street. They are wearing backpacks and holding hands.China, Singapore and Japan have a policy framework that supports older people to remain within the community. Many Western countries have favoured the age-segregated community model. Regardless, both need to take a holistic view of the lives of older people to maintain quality of life. The design of urban public space is key to this approach. 

Social participation is part of staying healthy and active in older age. A study using an active ageing framework draws together physical, social and mental health into a strategy for urban design. The author argues that adding accessible, barrier-free to existing spaces is insufficient to encourage participation. Creating age-friendly spaces that are not joined up also needs to be addressed. Ageing is much more than providing health care or islands of specialised design for older people. The answer is public space that has mixed functions and integrates all generations. That is, universal design.

One of the strategies is taken from an example in Japan where a day care centre is adjacent a kindergarten. The space between is designed to encourage interaction. While this is not a new idea, it is yet to be realised more widely in new developments and urban renewal projects.

The world’s population is getting older. More people are living 30 or more years in older age, and many are maintaining health for longer. Urban design has a role to play in supporting our longevity in all aspects of health and wellbeing. It is also about dignity and independence.

The title of the paper is, The Research on the Optimum Design Strategies of the Public Space Against the Background of Active Aging. 

Editor’s note on terminology: “Older people” is the preferred terminology in Western cultures, not “the elderly” as if they are an homogeneous group. 

ABSTRACT:  The urban public space is an important part of the daily living space of the elderly. The paper explores the practical significance of the urban public space in meeting the psychological needs of the elderly and their will to participate in the society. The urban elderly space based on the concept of active aging, is conducive to the spiritual consolation and satisfaction of the elderly in the space with multigenerational integration, multi-functional combination and guidance and helps guide the elderly to realize their self-worth through learning and creating and participating in the society more comprehensively. Based on the theory of active aging, the paper analyzes the differences of the functions of the urban public space for the elderly in China and in view of the limitations of the design of urban public space for the elderly in China. With typical cases in China and abroad, it proposes the ideas and directions of optimum designs of urban public space for the elderly and summarizes the design strategies of the active responses to aging of the urban public space for the elderly.

Slips, Trips and Falls: More can be done

A brown shoe is about to step on a banana skin.How do we know if a flooring surface is slip resistant? And is it resistant in different situations? Slips, trips and falls account for a significant proportion of hospital stays. But we seem to accept this as inevitable. Lots of energy goes into educating older people and others to avoid falls, but the issue is much broader. A group of passionate people think we can improve the situation by developing and testing floor surfaces that minimise the risks. This diverse group came together in a conference earlier this year.

The Slips,Trips and Falls international conference brought together a diverse group of professionals all keen to prevent accidents. So they had everything from technical specifications to footwear. The proceedings have five main sections which are worth a browse:

– Design and technical standards in architectural design; 
– Issues of slip resistance measurement;
– Ergonomics, rehabilitation, footwear and innovative products;
– Analysing accidents and the causes of falls; and
– Biomechanics, human behaviour and ageing.

A yellow A frame sign indicating a safety hazard of a wet floor.

It seems that Spain is ahead of the pack when it comes to testing and standards development. They demand a high level of compliance for slip resistance in the built environment. That transfers to Spanish flooring products. That means any flooring products sourced from Spain have been thoroughly tested.

Much of this conference is technical, but the bottom line is that we could prevent many falls and hospital stays if we had the same emphasis on ensuring products had good slip resistant properties. 

Richard Bowman’s paper is also available on ResearchGate. 

The slippery case of slip resistance

A graph showing slip resistance gradings.Richard Bowman’s recent publication challenges conventional methods of testing tiles for slip resistance. Testing is mostly done in laboratories and the results are used for setting Standards for slip resistance.

In real environments, speed of walking, inclines, changes in weather, and cleaning materials all have an effect on the slip resistance of tiled surfaces. Bowman argues that these are not always taken into consideration. While the paper is very technical, it is essential reading for anyone involved in access compliance and all round safety for everyone.

The title of his paper is, Can we develop slip resistance metrics that ensure appropriate tile selection?  Read to the end to see what he has to say about two popular Australian access guides that cover slip resistance.

Richard Bowman is a ceramic engineer, who spent 30 years working as a principal research scientist at CSIRO – Australia’s national scientific research organisation. Richard also presented a paper at the 2014 Australian Universal Design Conference. A follow up paper was presented at the Slips, Trips and Falls Conference in Madrid, 2020.

From the abstract:

This paper reviews several aspects of the state of the art of slip resistance testing in the context of trying to identify an ISO testing procedure that would provide suitable metrics for optimising appropriate tile selection. While existing test methods might be represented as being fit for purpose, there are several areas of test protocols that could and should be significantly improved. …While the existing paradigm of solely assessing the ex-factory slip resistance of tiles is flawed and contrary to sensible regulatory measures, new data is required to establish credible evidence-based practicable standards.

 

Neighbourhoods for every age

Shows the street of a new housing development with driveways for cars but no footpath for peopleDesigning universally requires the involvement of users of all ages and abilities in the design development stage. Inviting them to comment at a later stage assumes only cosmetic changes are needed to the “grand design”. But inclusive design begins right at the stage of design “thought bubbles”. 

Using the experiences of children and older adults, two case studies illustrate the need to utilise universal design principles in neighbourhood planning and design. The authors discuss how universal design is the bridging concept for joined up thinking for greater liveability for all ages. However, entrenched practices based on compliance leave no space for the application of voluntary guidelines whether for one age group or another.

Planning neighbourhoods for all ages and abilities: A multi-generational perspective, is an academic paper. It has several photographs illustrating the findings and the points made in the case studies. 

Abstract: Taking a more integrated approach to planning our neighbourhoods for the continuum of inhabitants’ ages and abilities makes sense given our current and future population composition. Seldom are the built environment requirements of diverse groups (e.g. children, seniors, and people with disability) synthesised, resulting in often unfriendly and exclusionary neighbourhoods. This often means people experience barriers or restriction on their freedom to move about and interact within their neighbourhood. Applying universal design to neighbourhoods may provide a bridging link. By presenting two cases from South-East Queensland (SEQ), Australia, through the lenses of different ages and abilities – older children with physical disabilities and their families (Stafford 2013, 2014) and seniors (Baldwin et al. 2012), we intend to increase recognition of users’ needs and stimulate the translation of knowledge to the practice of planning inclusive neighbourhoods.

 

Accessibility Toolbar