The 8 to 80 Problem: Designing Cities for Young and Old
The non-profit organization 8-80 Cities based in Toronto focuses their efforts on providing solutions for cities to make it accessible to people of all ages. They determine whether a specific space would be usable by an 8 year old as well as by an 80 year old. If a space is deemed to be inaccessible, […]
Streets as Places: A Way to Fully Complete Streets
The “complete streets” movement has taken the United States by storm, and has even taken root in countries such as Canada and Australia. Few movements have done so much to influence needed policy change in the transportation world. As of today, almost 300 jurisdictions around the U.S. have adopted complete streets policies or have committed […]
RUSSIA: Sochi Without Barriers
From the July 2011 Universal Design Newsletter By: Elaine Ostroff, Hon. AIA, founding director of the Institute for Human Centered Design Late in 2010, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU), met to launch a “National Programme to raise awareness of the Russian Federation citizens on the Paralympic Games and […]
Design Tips for an Age-Friendly City
These tips from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects can help urban planners and policy makers understand how to design a city to be better able to support people’s independence and well-being as they age. The tips cover areas like public spaces, streets, neighborhood development, buildings and residential units.
Streets are People Places
I have a favorite saying about transportation: “If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.” It sounds obvious, but when I make this point to audiences around the country, it’s a real eye-opener. They love it.