Better Life in Urban Areas for All with Inclusive Design
Channel: BEEdu
Date: 25/11/2020

Presentation made at the Rapid Cities Responsive Architectures Conference, Dubai 2020. We are fast moving towards a world where the human population will reach 9.4 billion people in 2050, with close to 17% being above the age of 65, and 75% expected to be living in hyper-dense cities that will cover 3% of the world's land surface. Besides, one in three people has a disability or care for someone with a disability, with 80% of disabilities being invisible to most other people. The presentation also shares forecasted figures on animal, plant, insect, and algae species for the next 30 years; and talks about how that impacts our life on the crust of Earth. These figures underline our imminent need to re-design, improve and future-proof the urban environments we live in and the devices and objects we interact with daily. They all have a significant impact on our daily experiences, our extent of ability or disability, and our ecological footprint. The main discussion is on what 'better' could mean and for whom, followed by the many ways we could make our urban environments more inclusive for all, not just for us humans but also for all other inhabitants of the world, included in the biosphere, for an inclusive multispecies design approach.