Mainstreaming universal design in Cape Town: FIFA 2010 World Cup(tm)-related activities as catalysts for social change

Abstract

Universal Design (UD), as it is known in the USA and elsewhere, is an inclusive approach to designing for the broader population and is rapidly gaining popularity amongst design practitioners and planners globally. Similar non-exclusive approaches have evolved in diverse parts of the world to counter the systemic disablement and exclusion of vulnerable/special populations of users perpetuated by traditional approaches to design. The transdisciplinary field of UD is informed by concilience in accommodating a wide range of related fields, such as education, landscape architecture, architecture, town and regional planning, industrial/product/three-dimensional design, furniture design, interior design, communication/information/graphic design, interaction design, human-computer interaction (HCI)/usability studies, and ergonomics/human factors engineering. UD proposes a collaborative systems approach that benefits from the synergies of cross-functionalism by approaching the diverse challenges facing society through socially responsible design. In so doing, UD can potentially impact such diverse issues as health, transportation, inclusive education, sports and recreation, entertainment, social welfare, inclusive employment, transgenerational/lifespan housing, inclusive tourism, accessibility, safety, and ecological concerns on sustainability.