MES Major Papers
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Browsing MES Major Papers by Subject "Accessibility"
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Item Open Access Reshaping Cities Through Sustainable Urban Planning Strategies and Creating Healthy, Equitable and Sustainable Communities Addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(2021-08) Boychev, Mariyan; Etcheverry, JoseEntering the third decade of the 21st century, humanity is facing multiple disasters. These encompass climate change and its consequences, the COVID-19 health pandemic, as well as increased social, economic, and environmental inequalities. These emergencies must all be addressed, in every aspect of our lives, together with better urban planning, to create future sustainable, equitable, and healthy communities and cities, and preserve the planet. The “15-minute city” model that unifies many urban strategies is key for the COVID-19 recovery and for developing sustainable cities. It focuses on meeting all the requirements that a person needs within a 15-minute radius of their household with minimal travel. As well, the strategy to reshape cities addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) that lead to global development towards wellbeing for all. It is recognized that going back to the previous “normal” is not an option and we should move away from the unsustainable way of life in our cities. Adopting the “15-minute city” model in Toronto can be a significant tool for better urban planning to create a post-COVID-19 sustainable and healthy community, to address efficiency and resilience of the city, while simultaneously contributing to climate change mitigation. Toronto must follow the examples of Paris, Seattle, and other global cities and implement the 15-minute neighbourhoods’ strategy for creating sustainable, equitable, and socio-economically prosperous communities, as well as meet its goal to become a carbon neutral city.Item Open Access The Production of Disability Through the Built Environment Surrounding Social Housing(2017) Bonham, Jeremy; Kusno, AbidinThe purpose of this study was to determine if there was a gap in the planning of affordable social housing and the accessibility of communities in which this housing is built. The assumption being that due to the rental process of social housing in Ontario, that people with impairments had little to no choice in which communities they lived and were therefore essentially forced to live in communities that were inaccessible and that through better planning this could be minimized. In an effort to establish context, in depth literature reviews were conducted to define concepts such as disability, community, social housing, social capital, participation, and place attachment. By defining and explaining these terms a better understanding of the importance of community integration for those with impairments was gained. This study then utilized two case study buildings, Lakeside Residences in Keswick and The Richmond Hill Hub in Richmond Hill in an effort to compare the experiences of tenants with impairments living in these communities. Tenants with impairments were interviewed and asked about why they were living where they did, what their experiences with the built environment were like, and whether they felt they were able to integrate with the community. The results of this research showed that the rental process for York Region actually does allow for a lot of choice for tenants when it comes to the communities in which they live as all tenants expressed that they lived where they were due to their own choosing. However, the tenants still felt that the surrounding community was inaccessible and that they were struggling to integrate into the communities due to the inaccessibility. It was concluded that issues of inaccessibility within the built environment stemmed from a rooted societal understanding of disability, and the responsibilities of upper and lower tier governments in regards to planning. A phenomenological approach to planning was suggested as a possible solution for planning future social housing complexes in an effort to house tenants in communities of their choosing that are more accessible.