As cities around the world move into an era of Smart city planning and implementation, one of the key challenges is meeting the needs of an increasingly aging population.
Read MoreSmart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly
Tag: Inclusion
How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?
How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help ensure all travellers have barrier-free access to these new systems.
Read MoreAge-Friendly Smart Cities
As many city environments are still designed to support an able-bodied working population, older people risk being excluded from the social and economic life of the city, especially when they lose functional ability. Age-friendly urban environments are therefore essential to enable a good quality of life across the life course, including the ability to age healthy and actively, with dignity,…
Read MoreA Functional and Inclusive City’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Simultaneously a health crisis, social crisis, and economic crisis, COVID-19 is laying bare how well cities are planned and managed. Its impact is showing the extent to which each city is able to function – or not – especially during times of crisis.
Read MoreInnovations for a People-Centric, Happy City
Citizen participation throughout the urban planning process can lead to the development of spaces and buildings that enable cities to develop urban environments that truly reflect people’s needs and preferences.
Read MoreAging Population Needs Walkable, Bikeable Cities
Seniors have the most to gain from pedestrian and cycling improvements—yet they often feel threatened by changes that provide alternatives to driving. Here are ways to include seniors in active transportation planning. The first time someone accused me of being “ableist” I was shocked. I was advocating ways to make downtown more walkable, including pedestrianizing some streets. I view walkability…
Read MoreProjects in Chicago and St. Louis Show How Technology Can Support Inclusion
One of the principles we lift up in our report is to “build with, not for” affected communities. For technology to deliver on the promise of increased inclusion, design and implementation need to be grounded in the needs and priorities of communities. To do this equitably requires actively engaging and listening to residents throughout the process.
Read MoreAccessibility & Inclusion For All
One billion people in the world today live with a disability, both in visible or invisible form. They are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in the world. How can we design a truly inclusive world that recognises the value and worth of people living with a disability? Source: http://www.weforum.org/
Read MoreCity Planners Must Practice Everyone-Based Design
I was once a live-in aide to a woman with multiple sclerosis named Marin. She was a 54-year-old Jewish hippie with a purple streak through her curly cloud of hair. She dyed the right ear of Jake, her white-furred poodle, to match. This was a conversation piece. Some people shied away from talking to her when she motored through town…
Read MoreAccessible and Inclusive Design Is Good for Business
The European Commission estimates that 80 million EU citizens live with a disability, with this figure expected to increase to 120 million by 2020 due to the region’s ageing population. In 2010, when it accepted the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the EU committed to ensuring the social and occupational integration of those living with disabilities.…
Read MoreFocus on Persons with Disabilities at UN Habitat Assembly
Hannes J. Lagrelius, WBU Programme Officer for Accessibility in Smart Cities Initiative sums up key highlights of the UN Habitat Assembly with reference to persons with disabilities. The Assembly was held on 27-31 May 2019, at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya.
Read More‘People Aren’t Disabled, Their City Is’: Inside Europe’s Most Accessible City
When I arrived at Breda station last month to find out why this Dutch city was recently named the winner of the 2019 Access City award, I did something I have not done while travelling in a long time. Instead of taking a taxi, I independently pushed the two kilometres to the hotel, to see whether lack of access for…
Read MoreTo Make A More Accessible City, Turn To The Sidewalk
To make a more accessible city, turn to the sidewalk Universities, advocacy organizations and startups are all exploring how to bring “big data to accessibility” in order to transform mobility for disabled communities. For Dustin Jones to navigate a new neighborhood in New York City, it takes some research. Jones, a disability rights advocate, uses a wheelchair, and he’s learned…
Read MoreDon Norman On How Design Fails Older Consumers
More people than ever are living long, healthy lives. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average life expectancy is 78.6 years for men and 81.1 for women. More relevant, however, is that as people grow older, their total life expectancy increases. So for those who are now 65, the average life expectancy is 83 for…
Read MoreSmart Cities for All – New Inclusive Innovation Playbook
Cities around the world are undergoing a dramatic digital transformation. They are using technology products and smart solutions in creative ways: to allow people to report issues like potholes and broken traffic lights; to create direct and personalized communication channels with residents; to facilitate digital or contactless payments for city services. But according to global studies by Smart Cities for…
Read MoreThe Power Of Smart Cities
When the Amazon Kindle was released, their ebooks didn’t work with commonly used screen readers, making accessibility difficult for the blind community. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the United States campaigned to change this for years, in vain. Then Amazon won a $30 million USD contract with the New York City Department of Education in 2015 to…
Read MoreThe Connection Between Smart City Infrastructure and Accessibility
The transit systems and social services of major metropolitan areas should be appealing to people with disabilities. Managing a condition that affects one’s vision, mobility, hearing or cognition is often easier in these environments — at least it should be in theory. The disconnect between theory and reality starts with problems in urban planning and development.
Read MorePutting Accessibility at the Heart of City Life
Public authorities, transport operators, civil society organisations and other public and private sector stakeholder in Greater Lyon have been successfully improving accessibility addressing it as a cross-cutting issue and investing substantially in creating a barrier-free and inclusive environment.
Read MorePeople With Disabilities Use Lived Expertise To Make Public Spaces Better
BOSTON – The Institute for Human-Centered Design’s West End office has no stairs – only ramps. Round white panels hanging from the ceiling absorb sound to reduce echo and make communication easier. “We have built-in bidets in our toilets. We have automatic faucets and lights,” says Valerie Fletcher, the Institute’s executive director. “We learn all the time, though, about how…
Read MoreSmart Cities Could Be Lousy To Live In If You Have A Disability
Cities sometimes fail to make sure the technologies they adopt are accessible to everyone. Activists and startups are working to change that. Victor Pineda travels the world to make speeches and advise governments on urban planning and development. But when he encounters a touch-screen kiosk, he’s stymied. For people like him, who use wheelchairs and have limited use of their…
Read More