Resources search

The Inclusion Imperative: Towards Disability-inclusive and Accessible Urban Development

Benjamin DARD
Victor Santiago PINEDA
October 2016

Expand view

CBM has joined the Global Network on Disability Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development (DIAUD) consisting of multi-stakeholder partners working on both disability and urban development issues, advocating for the inclusion of women, men, girls and boys with disabilities in the New Urban Agenda and the UN Habitat III process. 

On behalf of DIAUD network, CBM and World Enabled have produced an innovative booklet on the Inclusion Imperative: Towards Disability Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development.

The booklet is filled with examples of disability-inclusive urban development, features the voices of people with disabilities claiming their rights as well as key recommendations to help ensure that cities respond to the needs of everyone, including persons with disabilities. The publication also contains a foreword by Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability.

The publication will be launched on October 16th, during the high-level forum on disability-inclusive urban development and further disseminated during the conference including stakeholder’s roundtable.
 

Interactive Accessability Map

HANDiCAP INTERNATIONAL
September 2016

Expand view

This interactive map allows you to scroll over each room to discover the accessibility features that benefit a wide variety of users in each location. 

Good practices of accessible urban development - Making urban environment inclusive and fully accessible to ALL

August 2016

Expand view

About 6.25 billion people, 15 per cent of them persons with disabilities, are expected to be living in urban centres by 2050. Urbanisation has the potential to be an engineer for achieving sustainable and inclusive development for all. The current lack of environmental accessibility faced by people with disabilities, in particular in many cities in the world, presents a major challenge. As the international community prepares for the Third Global Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), which will take place in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016, it is an apt and a strategic opportunity to promote an accessible and inclusive Urban Agenda.

This report is a compendium of promising initiatives and good practices that have emerged in recent yeas successfully promoting accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities, their rights, aspiration and contributions in the contexts of urban development. It countains findings and recommendations which were adopted at a UN expert group meeting, that may be helpful in informing the ongoing Habitat III discourses, the development of the New Urban Agenda as well as in furthering accessible and inclusive urban development 

Impact of inaccessible spaces on community participation of people with mobility limitations in Zambia

BANDA-CHALWE, Martha
NITZ, Jennifer C
DE JONGE, Desleigh
2016

Expand view

Background: The study investigated the perspective of people with mobility limitations (PWML) in Zambia, firstly of their accessibility to public buildings and spaces, and secondly of how their capacity to participate in a preferred lifestyle has been affected.

 

Objectives: Firstly to provide insight into the participation experiences of PWML in the social, cultural, economic, political and civic life areas and the relationship of these with disability in Zambia. Secondly to establish how the Zambian disability context shape the experiences of participation by PWML.

 

Method: A qualitative design was used to gather data from 75 PWML in five of the nine provinces of Zambia. Focus group discussions and personal interviews were used to examine the accessibility of the built environment and how this impacted on the whole family’s participation experiences. The nominal group technique was utilised to rank inaccessible buildings and facilities which posed barriers to opportunities in life areas and how this interfered with the whole family’s lifestyle.

 

Results: Inaccessibility of education institutions, workplaces and spaces have contributed to reduced participation with negative implications for personal, family, social and economic aspects of the lives of participants. Government buildings, service buildings, and transportation were universally identified as most important but least accessible.

 

Conclusion: Zambians with mobility limitations have been disadvantaged in accessing services and facilities provided to the public, depriving them and their dependants of full and equitable life participation because of reduced economic capacity. This study will assist in informing government of the need to improve environmental access to enable equal rights for all citizens.

Disability considerations for infrastructure programmes

AGARWAL, Anjlee
STEELE, Andre
March 2016

Expand view

This study identifies and summarises evidence of the impact of non-accessible infrastructure on people with disabilities. It makes recommendations on how to incorporate the principals of universal access into all infrastructure projects. This document should be read in combination with the DFID (UK Department for International Development)​ Disability Framework “Leaving No One behind” (2014), which sets out how DFID promotes inclusion of people living with disabilities in all its programmes. Topics covered include: rationale for inclusive infrastructure; best practices in project planning, engineering design; monitoring and evaluation processes; inclusive design in planning and policy; mainstreaming disability considerations into infrastructure programmes and policy decisions; linking disabilities with cross cutting agendas. 

Making schools accessible to children with disabilities

2016

Expand view

Barrier-free access refers to universal access for all children to inclusive schools. While there are many barriers that need to be addressed — the curriculum, and teaching-learning practices and materials, among others — to make a school inclusive, this guidebook speci fi cally focuses on infrastructural barriers and provides practical, cost-effective and technical solutions for making the physical environment of a school safe, accessible and friendly for children with disabilities.

 

During accessibility audits conducted in 500 schools across 16 states in India in 2012-2014, it was found that due to lack of expertise and understanding of access standards amongst construction personnel and school administration, school infrastructure was often barrier- fi lled and unsafe for children with disabilities. This hampered their access to and use of classrooms, playgrounds, libraries, drinking water units, toilets, mid-day meal areas, and other areas.3 This guidebook has been prepared to:

 

i. Provide guidance on making the school infrastructure accessible for children with disabilities.

ii. Assess school facilities and infrastructure and provide design solutions based on national accessibility standards.

E-bulletin