Seoul Design
International Forum
서울디자인국제포럼

Universal Design for Leisure Facilities Cities

User survey for ski resort design reflecting universal design In 1998, at the Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, 710 disabled skiers were surveyed on the perception and environment of skiing. The response rate was 35%, and the number of answers returned was 261. Interesting answers from the survey include "Skiing is a leisure activity, not a rehabilitation treatment," "I can't move my legs, but I can feel the speed," and "I can enjoy it fully without worrying about being compared to others because I'm exercising privately." In other words, skiing is an easy sport for anyone with any disability to try, and the number of elderly beginner skiers and skiers with disabilities might be expected to increase in the future.

Universal design that makes life easier for citizens

Design is an essential tool for making life easier for citizens. Good design eliminates user discomfort and this is a quality that applies equally regardless of the presence or absence of a disability. Therefore, I think universal design is a design that considers the needs of all people. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been pushing for UD guidelines since 2010 for facilities for teenagers, the elderly, the disabled, and children, who are various users of welfare facilities, and has been consulting actual welfare facilities with these guidelines.

Universal Design Development Direction

Jongno Welfare Center for the Disabled opened in June 2012 and the building has four stories. The cneter has a higher proportion of the deaf and visually impaired users than other welfare centers, as the 100-year-old Seoul National Blind School and the Seoul National Agricultural School are right next to it. In addition, according to the user distribution survey in 2013 showed that users were distributed evenly from children to adults. In this discussion, the six construction guidelines for welfare centers are explained, and you can see how carefully they thought about them.

Universal Design welfare facilities meet with the system / Cases in Norway and Australia

Universal Design has been used for a very long time and has been implemented as part of Seoul's design policy to create an urban environment that is safe and convenient for all citizens, regardless of gender, age, nationality and disability. But it is still difficult for citizens to feel it directly or to fully popularize it within the remit of our daily lives. At this point, we need to think about what strategies the Seoul Metropolitan Government should use in relation to its policies, understand how some countries, like Norway and Australia, understand "different" through the UD system, and look at examples where Seoul can choose to apply UD in the future, especially in relation to important issues regarding welfare services, facilities and space. 1. Origins of Universal Design Universal Design is design for everyone. Its scope is wide-ranging, from products, architecture, environment, services, the urban environment and social institutional improvement, which should be easy to use regardless of age, gender, nationality or disability. Universal in the dictionary sense can be interpreted as universal or all, and it also contains the concept of planning and designing products, buildings and environments from the beginning to make them available to everyone. Universal Design was initially designed as a standard for people with disabilities and the elderly but over time, the scope of its necessity expanded as it gradually targeted a larger number of people. The concept of UD is seen as a concept of life-span design or trans-generational design which goes far beyond the concepts of the barrier-free design, accessible design, and adaptable design of the past.

UD (Universal Design) in the Everyday Life of Citizens

How does universal design exist in everyday life - our home life, our daily life and our daily routines? 1. Everyday universal design for our family #1 “An 87-year-old mother, who is physically disabled and unable to go outside without support, often sits in the living room and looks out the window or holds onto the window sill of the veranda and watches people passing outside the apartment window. Recently, her hearing has deteriorated and she can't hear the doorbell very well, so she is afraid that she won't be able to hear when her children call.” Through consideration for the underprivileged and the coming of the aging society, universal design has already become commonplace in developed countries. Although there is a difference in degree, signs of hearing, visual, and physical disabilities appear together in the process of human aging. Although it is a very natural process, it is bound to lead to experiences that cause inconvenience in daily life, which makes us realize how important and useful universal design is for all of us, and why it should become commonplace in our daily lives.