ON INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN. A REVIEW OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS.
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Since the mid-20th century, assessing the performance of the built environment was recognized as an instrument to improve the efficiency in the design and construction processes. However, it appears difficult to identify assessment tools that currently include a holistic assessment of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility criteria for the built environments. A systematic literature review was performed to define the state of the art of assessment tools in the domain of civil engineering and architectural design, and to identify gaps in the criteria of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. The review highlighted three fundamental aspects. First, how the binomial relationship between regulations and assessment tools is not mutually exclusive. Second, how the process of assessing buildings is shifting towards mixed evaluation methods. Third, how assessment tools have been developed with a perceivable evolutionary latency from when standards were released. With this work, we produced a state-of-the-art overview about inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) in the built environment, to inform the development of tools that will foster the design of future inclusive environments.
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A previous literature review by the authors found that legislation and best practices in ID are not adequately understood by architectural design professionals, leading them to perceive ID as a limitation for the creative design process.
“A previous literature review from the authors [11] highlighted how legislation and best practices in ID are not adequately understood by architectural design professionals, leading them to perceive ID as a Fig. 5. Challenges identified amongst respondents: perceptions, links and influencing factors.limitation for the creative design process [22].”
From Inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the built environment: A study of architectural design practice (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
Section 2 says limited adoption of Inclusive Design is partly related to practitioners’ awareness of inclusivity and diversity, and the review’s outcome describes a lag in knowledge transfer between regulations, design practice, and assessment tools (page numbers unavailable). It does not establish that architectural professionals inadequately understand ID legislation and best practices. Nor does it report that they view ID as limiting creativity, though the citing sentence also attaches a separate citation to that point. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWith acquired user feedback and unbiased metrics it is possible to better inform architectural design professionals, building managers and occupants about current and future challenges present in selected buildings, and this knowledge would facilitate the implementation of future design processes targeting IDEA.
“With the acquired user feedback and unbiased metrics [11] it is possible to better inform architectural design professionals, building managers and occupants about current and future challenges present in selected buildings and this knowledge would facilitate the implementation of future design processes targeting IDEA.”
From Inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the built environment: A study of architectural design practice (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPolicymakers have recently started to implement standards and regulations to nurture the design of more inclusive environments.
“With the evolution of design for disability into accessible design and the rise of awareness of ID amongst architects and design professionals, policymakers have recently started to implement standards and regulations to nurture the design of more inclusive environments [11].”
From Inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the built environment: A study of architectural design practice (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
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Ten questions concerning inclusive design of the built environment
Heylighen, A., Van der Linden, V., & Van Steenwinkel, I. (2017) · Building and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.12.008 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
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Zallio, M., & Clarkson, P. J. (2021) · Building and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108352 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Zallio, M., & Clarkson, P. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Zallio, Matteo
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Design Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2021-07-27
- Volume
- 1
- Pages
- 2297-2306
- ISSN
- 2732-527X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3191498328
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Design Society (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- European Commission (846284, HORIZON2020)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Construction Management and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Ergonomics and Human Factors
- Keywords
- ideas, civil engineering design, architectural design, building performance evaluation, accessibility standards, regulatory compliance, inclusive design
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