Webinar 2: Creating Inclusive Infrastructure

Wrapping up Webinar 1: Global Insights to Local Action, Iain McKinnon, CEO, Global Disability Innovation Hub, highlighted that our ambition is to ensure "inclusive design isn’t an afterthought — it’s a foundational element…”  

The second session—Creating Inclusive Infrastructure—of the four-part series reinforced this message from the lens of making everyday spaces truly inclusive. Annamae Muldowney from GDI Hub’s Inclusive Design team situated the discussion, drawing insights from both the Global Comparison Report and Global Action Report. Annamae emphasised the need for cities to adopt a holistic infrastructure lifecycle approach and embed ‘inclusive design’ principles and processes across policy, planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.  

Five priorities for inclusive infrastructure: 

“Access to assistive technology requires and is effective only with an inclusive and accessible built environment”—supporting this argument, Annamae presented the five priorities for creating inclusive infrastructure, based on GDI Hub’s research from six cities:  

1. Embedding inclusion from the start: This will not only improve project outcomes but also save budget and resources.  

1. Localising and implementing inclusive design standards: Transforming informal settlements and reaching people with disabilities living in vulnerable contexts require context-responsive design details suitable, for example, to address narrow pathways, steep slopes, and open drainage networks.  

1. Strengthening inclusive city governance: Formalising engagement withOPDs and inclusive design experts within city administration processes is key to ensuring continuity in inclusive infrastructure vision and implementation amidst leadership changes.  

1. Designing for first- and last-mile access: Often cities are led by big projects, leaving out critical attention to first- and last-mile infrastructure connectivity. For example, having an accessible low-floor bus fleet is great, but without continuous footpaths, safe crossings, curb cuts, and signage, a person using a wheelchair may not reach the bus. 

1. Investing in training and awareness: Architects and planners, though they had formal design training, commonly lack an understanding of disability experience. Regular dialogue with people with lived experiences of disabilities is key to developing an inclusive design brief and delivering inclusive infrastructure.  

 Change begins with education and awareness:  

George Ndege, President, Architectural Association of Kenya, supported the value of investing in inclusive design training and awareness, particularly among young architecture graduates in Kenya. George also highlighted the two sides of the challenge in providing inclusive infrastructure; firstly, most Kenyan cities lack even the essential physical infrastructure, and secondly, the allocation of budget and resources continues to be skewed by other political priorities.  

“A design is only good depending on how many users get to enjoy it. It is important for us to intentionally design and intentionally allocate the resources to cover the needs of people living with disabilities,” said George, highlighting the need for investing in education and awareness to secure investments in inclusive design and infrastructure. 

 Removing barriers as we rebuild our cities 

Sharing experiences from Ethiopia, Gosa Zeleke, Disability Advocate and Inclusion Consultant, highlighted the fast-paced development activities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In doing so he revealed how a city under construction makes people with disabilities time poor due to lack of alternate accessible routes and longer trip lengths. Most new infrastructure, including footpaths, continues to have barriers in the form of electric poles and utility boxes, flowerpots and beautification elements, and slippery surface material, he added. This status quo undermines both the legal obligations of cities in providing inclusive public facilities and the value of public investments made in building new infrastructure.  

“You see toilets are marked with logos suggesting accessibility and disability-friendliness, but at the same time ramps are steep and without protection, doors are too narrow, alongside other barriers to even reach the facility,” explained Gosa, emphasising how good intentions do not always translate into good design.  

Inclusive design as the golden thread 

Building on Gosa’s point, Pareisse Wilson, Associate Director in the Social Impact team at Mott MacDonald, emphasised the need to embed inclusive design in everyone’s thinking. She described the need to make it as everyone’s responsibility, including architects, planners, asset managers, service designers, project managers, and the client investing money.  

“It’s really powerful if you can take the inclusive design objectives and weave them into the wider programme objectives, across sustainability, social value, and governance. If you can link these together, it [inclusive design] becomes part of a golden thread and not an add-on,” pointed out Pareisse.  

She further added, “When it comes to accessibility and inclusion, it’s not necessarily about striving to say the right thing or do the right thing all the time. It’s about understanding the WHY and putting empathy at the heart of the project. And that matters.” To do this and build consensus with and through inclusive design processes, Pareisse also recommended that cities appoint an Inclusive Design specialist.  

Learnings from Expo City Dubai 

Pareisse’s recommendation then steered the conversation to Maisa Obeid, Accessibility Manager, Expo City Dubai, who shared five key learnings from their practice:  

1. Accessibility is a journey; cities need to keep improving, monitoring and evaluating, and inputting feedback from people for the next project.  

1. Plan for operations from Day-1; accessibility does not stop with construction, as inclusive service delivery is what ultimately determines people’s everyday experiences.  

1. Don’t just consider the standards; think ahead of time to innovate on design detailing and operational models for infrastructure that can better serve diverse needs.  

1. Make accessibility everyone’s business; encourage ownership, contribution, and accountability from all stakeholders.  

1. Set clear key performance indicators (KPIs) and a monitoring strategy: Use dashboards and regular progress review to track development and upgrade infrastructure as needed.  

Reflections from GDI Hub 

The panellists unanimously agreed on the need for and value in bringing together diverse stakeholders, to successfully implement inclusive infrastructure. At GDI Hub, our mission to create inclusive cities is rooted in the principles of collaboration and co-design. We believe that real change happens when decision-makers, practitioners, and people with lived experience come together to shape the built environment.  

As cities continue to grow and transform, now is the time to act. We invite policymakers, urban planners, designers, and communities to join us in championing inclusive infrastructure, not as a niche concern, but as a foundation for equitable, resilient urban futures. 

As we recognise that inclusive infrastructure isn’t just about bricks and mortar, our upcoming session on June 25th, 2025, will explore the challenges and good practices in making urban services inclusive. This session will shift the focus toward the systems and services that shape everyday life and how these can be designed and delivered to be accessible, equitable, and responsive to diverse needs. 

Register here to join us!