The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) has today released a new report that highlights the importance of creating inclusive neighbourhoods by incorporating inclusive design principles into the public realm. 

Creating a public realm for all serves as a guide for transport professionals to identify and address challenges faced by disabled people, older individuals, and those with temporary disabilities when navigating public spaces. It emphasises the need for co-cultivation, meaningful engagement, and representation throughout the design, construction, and operation processes to ensure accessibility, safety, and ease of navigation for all users. 

Sue Percy CBE, Chief Executive, CIHT said:

“Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), climate action, and professionalism are key to CIHT’s overarching strategic themes.”

“We believe in working to improve EDI across the highways, transportation, and infrastructure sector. There is a significant overlap between social inclusion and our physical and mental health and wellbeing, so ensuring equitable opportunities for everyone to travel is essential.”

“We must be inclusive – in how we design, build, and maintain the public realm. This report will help transport professionals to recognise and respect peoples’ differences and ultimately improve what is done.”

About the report

Creating a public realm for all highlights the challenges faced by people using the public realm and provides transport professionals with guidance documents, suggested reading material, and examples of good practices for reference.

Key points:

• Creating inclusive neighbourhoods: The report emphasises the significance of designing neighbourhoods that are accessible and usable by all individuals, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.
• Inclusive design principles: By incorporating inclusive design, the public realm can be transformed to cater to a diverse range of users, removing barriers and promoting equal participation.
• Guide for transport professionals: The report serves as a practical guide for transport planners and designers to identify and address the challenges faced by disabled people, older adults, and those with temporary impairments when using public spaces.
• Co-cultivation and engagement: It stresses the importance of co-cultivation and meaningful engagement with all stakeholders throughout the design, construction, and operational phases of a project to ensure a deep understanding of the issues faced by users and designers alike.
• Accessibility and safety: The report's focus is on creating safe and accessible spaces, particularly for individuals with dementia or neurodivergence, who may struggle with complex signage or navigation.
  
• Guidance and resources: The report offers a comprehensive list of guidance documents, suggested reading materials, and examples of successful inclusive design practices for further reference and implementation.

Project Development

Creating a public realm for all was informed by an initial scoping workshop in January 2024 with people from a range of ethnic backgrounds. The workshop included people with lived experience of health conditions or impairments, representatives from disability groups, urban planners, highway engineers, researchers, inclusive design professionals, and other experts in the field. Following this, there was a wider call for evidence, a workshop and a webinar to discuss the draft findings. The final report was shared with all those individuals who contributed to it for review in April 2024.

A copy of the report and supporting information is available here - https://www.ciht.org.uk/publicrealm