March 31 – 2025

2030-talets boende med plats för alla skeden i livet: Om tillgänglighet och användbarhet som krav i bostadsutformningen i 12 länder

Karin Grundström, Professor in Architecture, Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University

Jonas E. Andersson, Associate Professor in Architectural and Urban Design, Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University

Abstract
The research project mapped informants in national and international research and authority networks. A total of 122 informants from countries within the EU, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States were invited to participate in a questionnaire about accessibility and usability as a functional requirement. A total of 62 responses were received, of which 43 responses were negative. Nineteen responses were possible to analyze and provide an image of the functional requirement in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, and Sweden. The answers were submitted by 10 women and 9 men, mainly architects. 

The functional requirement of accessibility and usability started to develop from the mid-1960s onwards. During the 21st century, lack of accessibility in the built environment was included in discrimination legislation. In most countries, the concept of accessibility is used, while accessibility and usability only occur in the Nordic countries. The requirement is often connected with disability policy objectives regarding barrier-free design, inclusive or universal design. Informants believed that the functional requirement can be developed further and would benefit from a clearer connection to user needs. The functional requirement has an unclear connection to sustainability. 

The results show that the functional requirement of accessibility and usability needs to be developed. One such development could be to include more information about users’ demands on the design of the home setting. The requirement in the building regulations should emphasize to a higher degree the fit between the design of the home and the needs that arise due to the user’s potential impairments during living, due to long-term diseases, physical limitations in the body, cognitive impairments, or age-related problems. In modern society, the home has become the locus for care and caregiving. Such a development of the functional requirement means that it promotes concepts such as design for all, inclusive or universal design. A clarification of the functional requirement of accessibility and usability in relation to the human user would put sustainability in a new perspective when designing housing and other types of buildings. A functional requirement of sustainability for housing and other buildings would highlight the need to design buildings according to periodic maintenance.

Discussants:
Oskar Jonsson, Associate Researcher in the Active and Healthy Ageing Research Group, Lund University

Mai Almén, Architect and Accessibility Expert, Hinderfridesign AB in Lund