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Smart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly

Smart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly

As cities around the world move into an era of Smart city planning and implementation, one of the key challenges is meeting the needs of an increasingly aging population.

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How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?

How well are we ensuring that contactless fare payment is accessible and equitable?

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help ensure all travellers have barrier-free access to these new systems.

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Age-Friendly Smart Cities

Growing Older in the City: Age-Friendly Smart Cities

As many city environments are still designed to support an able-bodied working population, older people risk being excluded from the social and economic life of the city, especially when they lose functional ability. Age-friendly urban environments are therefore essential to enable a good quality of life across the life course, including the ability to age healthy and actively, with dignity,…

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A Functional and Inclusive City’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Functional and Inclusive City’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simultaneously a health crisis, social crisis, and economic crisis, COVID-19 is laying bare how well cities are planned and managed. Its impact is showing the extent to which each city is able to function – or not – especially during times of crisis.

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Innovations for a People-Centric, Happy City

Screenshot_2020-03-26 Innovations for a people-centric, happy city Social Innovation Hitachi

Citizen participation throughout the urban planning process can lead to the development of spaces and buildings that enable cities to develop urban environments that truly reflect people’s needs and preferences.

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Aging Population Needs Walkable, Bikeable Cities

Aging Population Needs Walkable, Bikeable Cities

Seniors have the most to gain from pedestrian and cycling improvements—yet they often feel threatened by changes that provide alternatives to driving. Here are ways to include seniors in active transportation planning. The first time someone accused me of being “ableist” I was shocked. I was advocating ways to make downtown more walkable, including pedestrianizing some streets. I view walkability…

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Accessibility & Inclusion For All

Accessibility & Inclusion For All

One billion people in the world today live with a disability, both in visible or invisible form. They are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in the world. How can we design a truly inclusive world that recognises the value and worth of people living with a disability? Source: http://www.weforum.org/

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City Planners Must Practice Everyone-Based Design

City Planners Must Practice Everyone-Based Design

I was once a live-in aide to a woman with multiple sclerosis named Marin. She was a 54-year-old Jewish hippie with a purple streak through her curly cloud of hair. She dyed the right ear of Jake, her white-furred poodle, to match. This was a conversation piece. Some people shied away from talking to her when she motored through town…

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Accessible and Inclusive Design Is Good for Business

A jubilant business woman at work, sitting in her wheelchair, smiling, and raising her hands and arms into the air

The European Commission estimates that 80 million EU citizens live with a disability, with this figure expected to increase to 120 million by 2020 due to the region’s ageing population. In 2010, when it accepted the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the EU committed to ensuring the social and occupational integration of those living with disabilities.…

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Focus on Persons with Disabilities at UN Habitat Assembly

Focus on Persons with Disabilities at UN Habitat Assembly

Hannes J. Lagrelius, WBU Programme Officer for Accessibility in Smart Cities Initiative sums up key highlights of the UN Habitat Assembly with reference to persons with disabilities. The Assembly was held on 27-31 May 2019, at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya.

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‘People Aren’t Disabled, Their City Is’: Inside Europe’s Most Accessible City

‘People Aren’t Disabled, Their City Is’: Inside Europe’s Most Accessible City

When I arrived at Breda station last month to find out why this Dutch city was recently named the winner of the 2019 Access City award, I did something I have not done while travelling in a long time. Instead of taking a taxi, I independently pushed the two kilometres to the hotel, to see whether lack of access for…

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To Make A More Accessible City, Turn To The Sidewalk

To Make A More Accessible City, Turn To The Sidewalk

To make a more accessible city, turn to the sidewalk Universities, advocacy organizations and startups are all exploring how to bring “big data to accessibility” in order to transform mobility for disabled communities. For Dustin Jones to navigate a new neighborhood in New York City, it takes some research. Jones, a disability rights advocate, uses a wheelchair, and he’s learned…

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Don Norman On How Design Fails Older Consumers

Don Norman On How Design Fails Older Consumers

More people than ever are living long, healthy lives. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average life expectancy is 78.6 years for men and 81.1 for women. More relevant, however, is that as people grow older, their total life expectancy increases. So for those who are now 65, the average life expectancy is 83 for…

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Smart Cities for All – New Inclusive Innovation Playbook

Screenshot_2019-05-08 Smart Cities for All – I2-Playbook-XT pdf

Cities around the world are undergoing a dramatic digital transformation. They are using technology products and smart solutions in creative ways: to allow people to report issues like potholes and broken traffic lights; to create direct and personalized communication channels with residents; to facilitate digital or contactless payments for city services. But according to global studies by Smart Cities for…

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The Power Of Smart Cities

The Power Of Smart Cities

When the Amazon Kindle was released, their ebooks didn’t work with commonly used screen readers, making accessibility difficult for the blind community. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the United States campaigned to change this for years, in vain. Then Amazon won a $30 million USD contract with the New York City Department of Education in 2015 to…

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The Connection Between Smart City Infrastructure and Accessibility

The Connection Between Smart City Infrastructure and Accessibility

The transit systems and social services of major metropolitan areas should be appealing to people with disabilities. Managing a condition that affects one’s vision, mobility, hearing or cognition is often easier in these environments — at least it should be in theory. The disconnect between theory and reality starts with problems in urban planning and development.

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People With Disabilities Use Lived Expertise To Make Public Spaces Better

People With Disabilities Use Lived Expertise To Make Public Spaces Better

BOSTON – The Institute for Human-Centered Design’s West End office has no stairs – only ramps. Round white panels hanging from the ceiling absorb sound to reduce echo and make communication easier. “We have built-in bidets in our toilets. We have automatic faucets and lights,” says Valerie Fletcher, the Institute’s executive director. “We learn all the time, though, about how…

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Smart Cities Could Be Lousy To Live In If You Have A Disability

Smart Cities Could Be Lousy To Live In If You Have A Disability

Cities sometimes fail to make sure the technologies they adopt are accessible to everyone. Activists and startups are working to change that. Victor Pineda travels the world to make speeches and advise governments on urban planning and development. But when he encounters a touch-screen kiosk, he’s stymied. For people like him, who use wheelchairs and have limited use of their…

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