A Guide to Universal Design in the Public Realm

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has published new universal design guidelines for safer streets, accessible for everyone. 

"By creating this best-practices guide, ASLA is making it easier for designers from all disciplines, elected officials, and everyday people to understand what an inclusive and accessible public realm looks like. More importantly, the guidelines are a call to action," according to an article by Liz Stinson, written shortly after the ASLA published the Guidelines.

"ASLA’s universal design guidelines consider physical disabilities like limited mobility, blindness and low-vision, and Deafness and hardness of hearing; people with neuro-cognitive disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; those with neuro-developmental disabilities, like autism; and aging people. ASLA defines universal landscapes as accessible, participatory, comfortable, ecological, predictable, multi-sensory, walkable, and predictable."

Budds's coverage shares multiple insights into the concepts of universal design from Alexis Vaugh, a deaf landscape architect working for Olin, who describes access to public space as a civil right.

An earlier article by Liz Stinson originally shared the news about the ASLA's new universal design guidelines.