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COTA New South Wales Universal Design: Local Government’s role in implementation Jane Bringolf COTA NSW
COTA New South Wales
Universal Design:
Local Government’s role in
implementation
Jane Bringolf
COTA NSW
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Introduction
• Resistance to uptake of UD in housing
(Australian perspective)
• Language use and interpretation
• Regulation and role of local government
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What is universal design?
• A way of designing products with the whole
population in mind
• It’s not a set of designs for a
particular group of people –
not a product or type
• It aims to improve functionality
for everyone
• It should also be aesthetically
pleasing
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It is not ‘special’ housing
It’s not
Adaptable Housing
Accessible Housing
Visitable Housing
Seniors Living
‘Disabled’ Housing
Or any other special type of housing
It’s about including as many features as
possible that improve function for everyone
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Why is it important?
• Exclusion and inability caused by poor design has social and economic costs
• Specialised and parallel designs are stigmatising - reinforce negative stereotyping and continued exclusion
• Ageing population an economic
and social policy challenge
• New homes have 60% probability of an occupant with a permanent disability
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Aim of the study
To find out why there is resistance to the uptake of universal design in new-build mass market housing in Australia.
Wanted to find out why barriers exist.
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Participants in the study
Built environment industry:
• In-depth interviews
• Postal and online survey
New home buyers:
• In-depth interviews
• Postal survey
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What the literature says
• Disability natural part of human experience
• Previously hidden away - viewed as state
welfare responsibility
• Segregation considered normal
• Civil and human rights not changed things
• Anti discrimination legislation retains
notions of ‘normal’ and ‘non-normal’ – not
educative or attitude changing.
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Professions and trades
– Also subject to societal attitudes
– Technical efficiencies of industry paramount
– Change required throughout delivery chain
– Not just a design issue
– Industry infrastructure issue
– Myths abound about difficulty and cost
– Consumers not demanding universal design
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What I’ve found out
• Language and terminology is holding us
back
• We aren’t all talking about the same idea
when we say universal, accessible,
adaptable, visitable, or even ‘disabled’
design
• Language is still centred on segregation –
housing for ‘us’ and housing for ‘them’
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My Proposition:
We have too many words and
not enough understanding
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Visitable
Seniors
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Where the words come from
• Some terms come from human rights
legislation and are stuck there: – Accessible and visitable
• Some come from policy shifts: – Adaptable, ageing in place
• Some come from a person-centred view: – Usable, person-environment fit, universal
Some come from marketing practice - branding
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Is branding better?
• Lifetime Homes
• Livable Housing Design
• Lifemark
• Smart Housing
• Lifecycle Housing
• Easyliving Homes
• Housing 4 Life
• Flexhousing
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Do we need so many ‘types’ of housing
exclusively for ‘other’ people?
Not if we start acknowledging that
ageing, illness, disability and
accidents are a part of being human,
and we…
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Expect it,
and plan for it
in every home
from this point
forward.
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Once we get clarity…
• We will stop focusing on WHO it’s for
• Start focusing on WHAT it can do and
• HOW it can be implemented
• Then we can start researching ways to
make it work better
• Cost arguments will disappear
• Everyone can capitalise on
more functional environments
and products!
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What I’ve found out
• Construction cost 1-2% more to change
existing floor plans of mass market homes
• Cost almost nothing if done from start
• Builders still think
‘normal’ vs ‘special’
so therefore
it must cost more
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A note about costs
• What does it cost NOT to have UD?
– Not borne by design, property or construction
industries
– Are borne by society, particularly weakest
members
• Research by NSW State land corporation
– Little if any cost if designed from outset
• Cost is always the easiest and well
accepted response
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Why we don’t have UD?
Simplistically -
• Code word for ‘disabled’ design
• This means grab bars
• Grab bars are ugly
• No thank you.
Arguments against UD
are based on existing
concepts of ‘disabled
design’. They are…
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Argument 1
From the perspective of aesthetics:
Disabled design is often unattractive
And unattractive things don’t sell
Therefore no-one wants to make it and
no-one wants to buy it.
False premise – doesn’t need to be ugly
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Argument 2
From the perspective of market demand:
Disability and ageing isn’t my business
My business is mainstream market segments
The mainstream market isn’t asking for it
Therefore I won’t build it.
Premise of ugliness at play here
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Argument 3
From the perspective of difference:
People with disabilities and older people
need places built specially for ‘them’
And they need to be separate from ‘us’
And special housing has its own
market demographic
Therefore I will build special places
if there is money in it.
False assumption – most want to stay put
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These arguments are influential
BUT
They are a cover for another reason:
To protect the current
housing system where
cost efficiencies are
locked into the
housing delivery chain
Real Argument?
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Engineers
Tradespeople
Building
Designers
Architects
Planners
Regulators
Property
Developers
Builders
Original photo by [email protected] [email protected]
The house building machine
Regulators
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Housing Delivery Chain
• A factory-style production line
• But lots of people ‘own’ different parts of
the machine
• Lots of reliance on others – no payback or
ownership for innovation, but lots of risk
• Works because of tight controls
• Regs keep everyone in line
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Engineers
Tradespeople
Building Designers
Architects
Planners
Regulators
PropertyDevelopers
Builders
A connected but fragmented
industry
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Systems Theory*
Big machine-like organisations don’t change
easily
– Tend to look inwards for solutions
– Closed to external feedback: coded ‘error variance’
– Tighten internal controls in response to threats
– No point of authority or responsibility
– Causes “one right way” to do things
– Efficiency remains, but effectiveness is lost
– Risk averse – any change is a risk to profits
*Katz & Kahn, (1978). The social psychology of organisations
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Which is why
industry says...
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“It has to be regulated”
In spite of 85% of industry respondents
saying universal design is desirable,
almost the same number say nothing
will change without legislation.
They are locked
into a system they
cannot easily
change themselves
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All change is difficult, but…
• Industry locked into system
• Appeal to external umpire – the regulators
• Consequence – lots of policies, regulations
• Need to cut through with simpler solution
• Go back to beginning, think again
from an inclusive planning
perspective
Engineers
Tradespeople
Building
Designers
Architects
Planners
Regulators
Property
Developers
Builders
Original photo by [email protected] [email protected]
The house building machine
Regulators
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Role of Local Government
• This is where planning authorities and
local government fit in.
• Study had no focus on local government
• But could it be a route to successful
implementation?
• Would it work better if the focus was taken
from design details to notions of inclusion
and inclusiveness?
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Role of Local Government
• Change the paradigm from universal
design to designing universally
• Design policies and plans universally
• Let the design details follow on
• Make it everyone’s business, not just
social services
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Norwegian Model
• Deals with the thinking
process
• Becomes everyone’s
responsibility
• Simplifies the system
• Norway universally
designed by 2025
Changes the UD emphasis
from user to planner
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Norwegian Model
• Strategies for land use planning
• Supported by the Planning Act
• Principles of equity and social inclusion
• Solutions for everyone, not about
problems for some
• Applied to buildings, outdoor areas and
road systems
• Accessibility possible on hilly terrain
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Norwegian Model
• Political commitment
• Linked with sustainable development,
safety, economics
• Education program
• Community participation
• Implemented within existing $ frameworks
• Principles inherent across government
• Planning policies not design details
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Conclusions
• It’s a paradigm shift – needs attitudinal
change
• Attitude and language are linked
• Consumers not thinking or planning ahead
• Industry can’t change easily without
legislation
• Who is going to take responsibility?
• Can’t keep designing as if ageing and
disability don’t exist
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Thank you!
Dr Jane Bringolf Liveable Communities Project Manager
http://cotansw.com.au/programs/liveable-communities/
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References
Bringa, O. (2007) Making Universal Design Work in Zoning and
Regional Planning
Bringolf, J. (2010) Calling a Spade a Shovel: Universal, accessible,
adaptable, disabled – aren’t they all the same?
Bringolf, J (2011) Barriers to universal design in Australian housing http://udeworld.com/presentations/papers/Bringolf%20UD%20Housing%20
FICCDAT.pdf
Smith, SK., Rayer, S., Smith, EA. (2008) Ageing and Disability –
Implications for the Housing Industry and Housing Policy in the
United States.
Norway Universally Designed by 2025 (2009)
http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/BLD/Nedsatt%20funksjonsevne/Norw
ay%20universally%
