Inclusive Environments - A world built by all, for all.
Built By Us has a mission to grow diversity and inclusion in the built environment sector. We speak up for those who are underrepresented and ‘othered’ by creating accessible mentoring programmes, working to change industry culture and growing diverse leadership.
We give voice to the struggles of being the ‘other’ in our chosen industry. Unfortunately, individuals with a disability or hidden impairment are often part of marginalised groups. They are communities or groups who face social exclusion and are too often not considered when designing the built environment. Over the coming weeks we are running the #BuiltForAllByAll campaign alongside the Disability History Month 2021 which runs from 18 November to 18 December. The campaign aims to:
address misconceptions about disabled individuals
challenge our sector to play a greater part in creating inclusive environments
share areas of good practice www.ukdhm.org
Disability History Month is supported by a wide range of disability groups, unions and voluntary organisations, whose aims are to promote disabled people's rights and their struggle for equality, now and in the past. The theme for this year's disability history month is 'Relationship and Sex. Disability and Hidden Impairment'. This year's UK DHM focuses on two enduring stereotypes that make disabled people's lives more difficult and act as a barrier to inclusion.
Statistics at a glance
There are 14.1 million disabled people in the UK. (1)
1 in 5 of us will be affected by disability at some point in our lives.
1 billion people around the world live with some form of disability, making up around 15% of the global population. The vast majority of people with disabilities live in developing countries. (2)
Although the gap in UK non-decent accommodation has closed over recent years, 1 in 3 households with a disabled person still live in non-decent accommodation. (3)
1 in 5 disabled people requiring adaptations to their home believe that their accommodation is not suitable. (4)
There are 220 million youths with disabilities (aged 15-24) worldwide and nearly 80 per cent live in developing countries. (5)
More than 4.4 million disabled people are in work in the UK. (6)
Increasing numbers of people are living into their 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. (7)
Inclusive Environments
An inclusive environment recognises and accommodates differences in the way people use the built environment.
It facilitates dignified, equal and intuitive use by everyone. It does not physically or socially separate, discriminate or isolate. It readily accommodates and welcomes diverse user’ needs — from childhood to adulthood through to old age, across all abilities and disabilities and embraces every background, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and culture. (8)
Inclusive environments assist in reducing the many obstacles faced by disabled groups in their everyday lives. To name a few challenges, they consist of prejudice and lack of social acceptance, difficulty in access to transport and lack of provision of comfortable and accessible environments.
The time for real change is now. Every individual should feel included and that all their needs have been taken into consideration and that they have options. Inclusive design is the responsibility of everyone who works in the built environment, ranging from access consultants, designers, architects, engineers, surveyors, facilities’ managers and many more.
The needs of individuals with disabilities are often given little thought despite being “the world's biggest minority”. Little consideration is given to how they can access buildings or how their journeys on transport systems will plan out. This is evidenced in the lack of planning even on a prominent stage such as COP26. Israel’s energy minister, Karine Elharrar, could not attend the conference. Elharrar could not reach the conference grounds because her vehicle was not allowed to enter the entrance she arrived at as it was not an accessible entrance, and the remaining distance was too far for her to go in her wheelchair. She waited for two hours and was eventually offered a shuttle to the site, but the shuttle was not wheelchair-friendly.
A high profile event like this will receive media attention from around the world but these instances occur all the time and we, as a society, need to do better. We need to amplify the voices of all disabled individuals. We need to listen to how conditions impact how disabled groups interact with the world. The consequences of not listening and thus not creating inclusive environments are stark. The life chances of such individuals are radically reduced. They have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty, than people without disabilities.
Why do we need inclusive environments?
Firstly, it is the right thing to do. Disabled groups should feel their life chances are not further reduced by their disability. Inclusion and accessibility is a basic right to which all are entitled. A person is disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. This categorises 14.1 million people in the UK alone. This is a large number of people whose needs are ignored.
It is not always obvious if someone has a disability, many are hidden. Provision for both visible and invisible disabilities is essential. Hidden disabilities can be physical – hearing loss, chronic pain, fatigue disorders, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, or fibromyalgia. They can be neurological – learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, and others. They can be mental – depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc. (9)
Another reason we need to ensure all environments are inclusive is because the UK population is aging. In less than 20 years one in four of people will be over 65. A safe and accessible environment is crucial to aid the older population to live enriched and independent lives. Appropriate housing planning and preparation is required to meet the rapidly growing demand. A reduction in health and social care costs are examples of some of the potential long term benefits of developing good quality housing for older people.
By creating inclusive environments, we create a level playing field for all. We acknowledge and appreciate diversity of experiences, backgrounds and different needs. We welcome a richness of diversity and promote not only a culture of inclusion but a physically inclusive environment which recognises the varying ways different people interact with the built environment by providing choice, convenience and removing segregation. Accessibility does not stop at physical accessibility such as braille signage and wheelchair ramps, but also includes digital accessibility, where information and communication technology is accessible to all and/or compatible with assistive technology devices. Disabled groups suffer unnecessary life setbacks due to the additional obstacles they face in their everyday lives. If we can eradicate this, we move closer to constructing an inclusive, diverse and equitable society.
Sources:
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2018/19
https://humanity-inclusion.org.uk/en/action/disability-the-global-picture
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures
Employment & Youth with Disabilities: Sharing Knowledge and Practices, P. Roggero, R. Tarricone, M.Nicoli and V.Mangiaterrra, 2005
Labour Force Survey October to December 2020
https://energyresourcing.com/blog/wellness/accessibility-in-the-workplace/