Category: Practice Guidelines for built environment

Safe and inclusive neighbourhoods

A woman stands at a street crossing with her assistance dog. She is touching a tactile street sign. Part of creating safe and inclusive neighbourhoods.Neighbourhood design has a role for both road safety and social inclusion. Pedestrian death rates are rising. What’s the cause? Is it smartphones or road design and drivers? Or is it both? Australian figures show the older generation is a big part of the fatality toll. But they are not likely to be looking as smartphones as they walk. So road and street design need another look for safe and inclusive neighbourhoods.

The American Society of Landscape Architects has an excellent guide on neighbourhoods and street design. Safe intersections, wider footpaths, accessible transportation, multi-sensory wayfinding, legible signage, and connected green spaces are addressed in the guide. City of Sydney gets a mention (see picture above) about a larger signage system that helps pedestrians calculate walking times within the city. 

Neighbourhood design important for inclusion

View from high building in Brisbane overlooking building roofs and the Brisbane river and bridges. We need to create safe and inclusive neighbourhoods.An article published in The Conversation about inclusive communities suggests neighbourhood and urban planning have a key role in promoting diversity, and through diversity comes safety and inclusiveness. This is particularly the case for adults with an intellectual disability.

The authors stress the “main issue is not the type of accommodation, but its location. The neighbourhood, its design, and the community of people who live there are all significant factors for supporting safety and inclusion.” And surprisingly the exclusion of cars (in terms of thoroughfares) via a return to the cul-de-sac is seen as a significant design principle to reconsider for inclusive neighbourhoods. Preliminary results found three critical aspects for designing an inclusive neighbourhood:

    1. actual and perceived safety within the street and neighbourhood
    2. access to services and amenities via walking, cycling or public transport
    3. inclusion in community life and local neighbourhood activity.

The title of the article is, Contested spaces: who belongs on the street where you live?

 

Age and Dementia Streetscapes Toolkit

front cover of the toolkit showing a streetscapeAround 70% of people with dementia are staying in their home environments. They can continue with their everyday lives for many years in the community if they get a bit of help in the form of supportive urban design. To the rescue comes the  Age and Dementia Toolkit. 

The toolkit is a practical guide based on participatory research. People working in local government will find it very useful as well as: 

1. Councils and built environment contractors
2. Planning processes
3. Design of infrastructure and maintenance
4. Use as and auditing tool for assessing compliance with age and dementia friendly design principles

Encouraging walking

We know that walking has health benefits for all age groups and it’s also important for dementia prevention and management. But for people with dementia, walking the neighbourhood becomes more challenging.

A street scene showing a wide footpath and a row of shops in the suburbsMoonee Valley City Council in Victoria wanted to know how to make environments more welcoming. They commissioned a project to find out what design features are most important to older residents. The toolkit is the result of much consultation within local communities and shows how a few tweaks can make places more vibrant, supportive and accessible.

The consultation process focused on one main street. It was chosen because it was surrounded by a high density of older people. They found that shops had a role to play especially where shopkeepers knew residents by name. 

The toolkit is easily accessible and simple to read for a variety of audiences, from members of the community to people working across all social and built environment disciplines. The toolkit has good examples and case studies.

Getting out and about in the community is part of the picture – home design needs to be considered too. 

yellow background with a black call-out box with Age n Dem in it

The process of developing the toolkit was also published in the Journal of Transport and Health. Extracts from the abstract follow.

Extract from Abstract

Age’n’dem was a participatory design process with older residents of Moonee Valley. It informed streetscape design, ensured access for older people including people with dementia, and to ensured measures were inclusive. The experiential learning process informed redesign of Union Road streetscape in Ascot Vale, Victoria. This street operated as an intact and attractive environment for shopping, and was surrounded by the highest density of older people in the municipality. Shops played an important role in supporting people to age in place.

Shopkeepers played an informal role by looking out for regulars, and helping out when and if something happened. Residents relied on it. Walking up the street, passing the time in a familiar place and dropping in on shopkeepers had become part of a daily ritual for many locals. What the shopkeepers did informally was better than any response any community service could offer.

Our role became one of supporting a natural and organic response by listening, watching and learning. We knew that If we made the street more comfortable we could sustain older residents’ interest as they age. We also knew that walking plays a key role in dementia prevention. Investing in local’s knowledge was important. Process is everything. Our most articulate supporters are the older residents themselves talking on national radio, and statewide press.

 

Poorly designed building wins award

A larege campus building with lots of glass and angled pillars and lots of steps.How can a building that compromises safety win an architectural award? Answer: by avoiding any reference to accessibility. A public building in Canada won an award, but the building is not user friendly for all. The video below shows how designing for designers or awards instead of users can produce hazardous results. That’s how a poorly designed building wins an award.

A blind user demonstrates the hazards whether using steps, the ramp, or even the elevator! It is easy to see how some users would think this thoughtless design. This is a great educational video on why handrails and ramps need to be done in a particular way. Universally accessible design is clever design, but this building is not clever. You can also read the article in the star.com

Upgrading Existing Buildings handbook

front cover of the upgrading existing buildings handbook.The regulatory framework for the built environment is moving away from reliance on regulation. Instead, the Australian Building Codes Board is developing handbooks for performance solutions. The Upgrading Existing Buildings handbook is one such publication. It relates to all buildings other than private housing. The handbook is only a guide, leaving potential for other ways of getting the same outcome.

The 57 page document includes appendices for each of the states and territories. Also included are legislation, regulations and design responsibilities. The key content is in the five steps:

      1. Locate related documentation
      2. Undertake an on-site inspection
      3. Compare expected performance
      4. Identify actual deficiencies
      5. Alleviate actual deficiencies

There is a section on people with disability which refers to the Access to Premises Standard. The handbook refers readers to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines for help. The five step process is applied with explicit reference to accessibility. For example, paths of travel and sanitary facilities. 

The takeaway message is that Performance Solutions may be the only practical solution to address actual deficiencies, and this is where a Universal Design approach will be most beneficial.

The 2020 version of the Upgrading Existing Buildings handbook updates the 2016 version. It reflects the move away from mandatory regulation to performance requirements.

Designing healthy health facilities

A slide from the presentation showing a cafe area with large glass windows looking out to a garden.Hospital design is evolving. We have moved from the Florence Nightingale era focused on regimes and hygiene to one of patient healing. And not just in a medical sense. Knowing that building design impacts our sense of wellbeing, we have entered the era of designing healthy health facilities. This was the topic of Michael Walker’s presentation at UD2021 Conference. 

Michael’s presentation took a biophilic approach to designing health facilities. Biophilia is about increasing connection to the natural environment. This is achieved through the choice of building materials and/or direct connection to nature. He gave several examples of the design features that matter: 

“Natural shapes and forms – the use of botanical and animal motifs, natural forms such as shells and spirals, egg, oval and tubular forms and shapes that generally resist straight lines and right angles.

Light and space – the use of natural, filtered or diffused light, the incorporation of shadows, warm light, spatial variability, spaciousness and the connection of inside and outside spaces.”

Other factors to consider in hospital design are:

      • Wayfinding: Most people can be easily overwhelmed when trying to find their way in unfamiliar surroundings.
      • Entrances: Arriving at a healthcare facility can be challenging for people and their carers. If arriving by car, there will be concerns about safety and wayfinding.
      • Reception: Areas should be clearly identified and provide people the opportunity to identify that they may need help in navigating the engagement process. 

The presentation slides have more information on this aspect of designing healthy health facilities. Michael’s presentation is titled, Design Matters to Make Well Spaces, and  linked closely with Stefano Scalzo’s keynote address on universal design. 

A universal design approach to all building types: A guide

Front cover of the guide.What does it mean to take a universal design approach to designing all building types? In a nutshell, it means designing for as many people as possible. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach either, although some say it is. 

The concept of universal design has come a long way from its roots in barrier-free-design. It covers everything from tangible objects to customer service. 

A guide from the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design covers all types of public buildings: offices, transport, retail, shopping centres, restaurants and bars, museums, galleries, libraries, entertainment centres, religious buildings, hotels, outdoor areas, parks and historic sites. The whole guide takes a universal design approach to all aspects of building design and across all types of buildings. It’s a very detailed guide, but the sections have clear subheadings. The section on housing was updated in 2023.

The Building for Everyone guide contains checklists for each section and pictures show some of the design issues arising. This is a comprehensive publication and brings together all building types together in one place. This makes it a good resource for local authorities that need to join the dots between all buildings in their community. It is also useful for planners and designers involved in one or more of the building types. 

Also, have a look at Designing Homes with Dementia in Mind. 

 

Universal Design, Health and Ageing: A checklist

Four older men wearing hats sit at a square table in the park.The most well-known guide for ageing populations is the World Health Organization’s Age Friendly Cities and Communities. This, and similar guides, focus on “active ageing” or “positive ageing”. They aim to counter the “burden” view of older people which tends to focus on ill-health. But good health and design are closely linked. The Center for Health Design has joined the dots on universal design, health and ageing and created a checklist.  

The Center for Health Design‘s checklist focuses on design features specific to older people. This checklist differs from others as it includes the health care aspect and takes a universal design approach. The checklist is not a list of comprehensive specifications, but a “thought starter”. It is best used to guide the discussion of design teams at the outset of a project. The checklist covers Home and Community including residential, Healthcare and design of clinics and emergency rooms, and Workplace designs and strategies.

The checklist matrix lists the strategy or goal, design considerations for the built environment, and the universal implications. It includes ageing in place, active living, hospital at home, hospital design, and promoting healthy lifestyles. 

The checklist has a comprehensive reference list to support the content. An extract from the checklist is below. 

The header of the checklist matrix showing the Strategy, Design element and universal implications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ageing is more than a health issue

A view of George Street Sydney showing pedestrians walking across the mall created by the light rail system. Ageing is not just a health issue.
Picture by Ashleigh Hughes

Guidelines, toolkits and policy frameworks related to population ageing have been around for a while. But are they being used? Ageing is more than a health issue – it’s an urban planning issue as well. COVID-19 has made this very apparent. And so has the 2023 Intergenerational Report. A case study based on Greater Sydney highlights the issues. 

The authors discuss an “ageing city” in the first part of the article where they focus on Australian data on ageing and dementia. The second part of the article provides more information on what is working well and what needs to change. The article uses data, state and city policies to assess how well Greater Sydney is doing as a city for older people. 

Key themes

Sydney has many blue and green spaces that are great for mental and physical health. However, these are inequitably distributed across eastern and western parts of the city. Access to shops and services likewise. 

Active and social places are for the most part good for everyone. Quiet places are important too especially for people with dementia. Feeling safe is related to how active an older person is in their community. The more they get out and about the less worried they are about crime. 

The researchers report on interviews with health and planning professionals, and provide several first hand quotes. 

Key themes from the interviews included: the need for intergenerational spaces, considering mobility and distance between key services, and better access to gardens. Familiar landscapes and architectural landmarks provide a sense of security along with quiet ‘slow spaces’. Ageing and dementia could get lost when nested under policy words such as “liveability” and “universal design”.

Many things are possible and easy to do if planning and health professionals work together. That seems to be the way to go. 

The last part of the article discusses the many toolkits, guidelines and policy frameworks for age-friendly cities. They range from international policies through to the work of the Greater Sydney Commission. The article concludes with recommendations.

The title of the article is, Age-friendly urban design and mental health in Sydney, Australia: a city case study. It is published in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health Edition 7: Aging City. There are other articles on the same topic in this edition. 

Authors are, Safia Moore, Associate at Arup, and Georgia Vitale, Practice Leader at Grimshaw. 

 

 

Great Public Spaces Toolkit

Public Spaces Toolkit cover.The NSW Government’s Great Public Spaces Toolkit has all the elements for anyone interested in public space. It’s a collection of free resources to support local government, state agencies, industry and the community. It’s a really simple, well laid out tool. 

The Great Public Spaces Toolkit includes:

A four page Fact Sheet about the Evaluation Tool which has four key questions: Am I able to get there? Am I able to play and participate? Am I able to stay? And am I able to connect? These key indicators are an extension of those developed for the Everyone Can Play guide. They were: Can I get there? Can I play? and Can I stay? and represent a universal design approach to the design of spaces. 

Evaluation Tool for Public Space and Public Life 

Great Public Spaces Guide Ideas and opportunities.

The Evaluation Tool Engagement Report

The Evaluation Tool is also available in Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese. Print versions are also included. 

Placemaking Europe

placemaking Europe logo. Yello background with a drawing of a hammer and nail.

There’s another toolbox with extended resources from Placemaking Europe. It’s an open source collection of placemaking guides and manuals with lots of pictures. 

“The Placemaking Europe Toolbox is a collection of curated placemaking resources for all to access, learn from, and practice.”

Placemaking Toolkit for small communities

Children play with bubbles in urban area.

Designing public space is not only for trained professionals. Because the Placemaking Toolkit shows how community groups and residents can do their own place make-over. The Toolkit is for community-driven, low-cost public space transformation. With the support of local government anyone can change a neglected space in their neighbourhood into a clean and safe play area or park.

This Guide is especially relevant for developing countries and remote communities in any country. The Guide is from the Public Space Network and includes case studies at the end. The introduction includes criteria for a good public space.

What makes a good public space?

1. Accessibility: Public spaces shall be well-connected to other places frequently used by people. They should be easy to get to, easy to enter, easy to move around, free and/or affordable for the vast majority.

2. Comfort: The place shall be kept clean and contain elements enhancing the comfort for its users. These can be seating facilities and dustbins painted in colours, and greenery (trees, loan, flowers) providing shade.

3. Safety: The space shall be well visible without any obstruction that could provide a hiding space for criminal activities. The space should be free of any illegal activities and the presence of motorized traffic shall be limited to avoid injuries.

4. Active use: Spaces become places when people use them. In an always empty space, people may not feel safe or comfortable. To encourage its social function, the place shall offer a wide variety of activities that can interest various types of users. The activities may include sport and leisure activities, such as space for boardgames and team sports, playground for children as well as a regular organization of community events – such as sports tournaments, concerts, fairs etc.

5. Walkability: Good public spaces provide opportunities for people to walk safely with minimal interruption from vehicles and other motorized transport.

Better Placed: Action for Good Design

Front cover of Better Placed.Policies and guidelines can be inclusive and thoughtful without needing to even mention universal design. The NSW Government Architect’s policy, Better Placed, has many of the elements of universal design without mentioning it. 

A universal design approach to any design is about taking a holistic perspective.  The Better Placed objectives are easily linked to the 8 Goals of universal design, which are adaptable to the language of any discipline. In this case it’s urban planning and infrastructure development. The key objectives of this integrated design policy for the built environment are:

    • Better fit
    • Better Performance
    • Better for community
    • Better for people
    • Better working
    • Better value
    • Better look and feel

The NSW Government Architect defines a well-designed built environment as healthy, responsive, integrated, equitable and resilient. 

The accompanying document, Implementing Good Design takes the ideas and turns them into actions. There’s an evaluation guide as well. 

“Better Placed confirms our collective wishes for the future design of our infrastructure, architecture, and public spaces, and endorses the power of design to enable a better and resilient future for our communities.” – Peter Poulet, former NSW Government Architect.

Distant view across Sydney Harbour looking South. Probably taken from Tarongo Zoo

Urban Design Toolkit from NZ

View of Auckland cityscape and waterfront with piers and boats. The Urban Design Toolkit is from New Zealand.The Urban Design Toolkit is a practical manual explaining the what, the how and when of urban design processes. This New Zealand publication supports the implementation of their Urban Design Protocol. Each section is written in the same straightforward format with the same subheadings. Some sections give examples as well.

The five key sections are Research and Analysis, Community Participation, Raising Awareness, Planning and Design, and Implementation. The Toolkit is now in its third edition. There is no specific mention of universal design in the Toolkit, but some elements are evident in the Urban Design Protocol: 

    • competitive places that thrive economically and facilitate creativity and innovation
    • liveable places that provide a choice of housing, work and lifestyle options
    • healthy environments that sustains people and nature
    • inclusive places that offer opportunities for all citizens
    • distinctive places that have a strong identity and sense of place
    • well-governed places that have a shared vision and sense of direction.

The first section begins with an accessibility audit, but it does not mention the inclusion of marginalised groups. Taking a universal design approach to the framework adds extra value.

The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment published the online Urban Design Toolkit.

Urban design and active living

An infographic from the guide focused on buildings.Healthy active living is a good thing but it isn’t just about joining an exercise class or a gym. It’s about a whole of life approach to a process none of us can avoid – ageing. So it begins with the design of our built environment – the everyday places and spaces, including our homes. But does being ‘active by design’ include thoughts of older people and people with disability?  Healthy Active by Design is a Heart Foundation online resource. This website is a practical guide that offers evidence, advice and examples to assist with the development of healthy and active neighbourhoods. It covers: Public Open Space Buildings Community Facilities Housing Diversity Destinations Sense of Place Movement Networks Healthy Food Each section leads to more information and checklists. There is little mention of older people and people with disability in any of the section checklists. “Accessible” and “accessibility” are mentioned a few times but these terms mean different things to different practitioners.  In terms of housing, this is expressed as housing choice and aged care facilities and specialised accommodation. Unfortunately, old assumptions about the accommodation needs of older people are solved by age-segregation. While the guide is focused on younger cohorts it offers good information for taking a whole of built environment approach to active design. The video below gives an outline. 
Editor’s Comment: I think this is another case of an organisation forgetting the National Disability Strategy which should be considered from the outset. It’s likely that hired consultants have no idea about the overarching Australian policies when devising resources. Inclusion, by definition, is not something separate to add at the end.