Planning for human diversity : design patterns of Universal Design

Ensuring the conditions for an inclusive society in the face of humandiversity places various demands on the built environment. Planning isessential for accommodating a wide range of individual preferences andabilities.This article examines the presence and absence of Universal Design (UD)in contemporary urban planning and construction in eight new or remodelledSwedish building and public space projects. The projects werestudied in-situ and via documentation from the planning and buildingprocess.The findings show two ways in which UD is present. The first is a patternwhere people are not separated from each other, whilst the secondis a pattern of facilitating equal use by placing low demands on users’abilities. It was revealed that UD was implemented more in remodellingprojects than in new constructions, which instead created new inequalitiesthrough categorisations of users and high demands on users’ abilities.They were also linked to an imbalance between green and socialsustainability.We argue that a change of mindset is pivotal for implementing UD.Human diversity must be a consideration throughout planning andbuilding processes, and creating a sustainable society requires UD. Thisarticle contributes new knowledge regarding patterns characterisingsuch a mindshift