Inclusive Views

There are, of course, multiple answers because their formulation is conditioned by numerous factors. These include the quality and quantity of the opportunities offered by the city and ease of access. Additionally, we tend to generalize an assessment of the city based on our personal experience. We usually experience only fragments of it, and based on those we form an idea of our city.

Days, weeks, months go by, and we take the same routes and visit the same places, to work, shop, for leisure, take children to school and, and by doing that, we form a partial idea of a city with an input based on how easy or difficult it is to meet these demands, the social relations we build and, also, on the repeated images of buildings, parks and squares, among other urban icons, that we observe every day. This partial grasp of our city often hinders the identification of a more complete urban landscape, made up by thousands of streets, buildings and squares that we do not see frequently, but fundamentally, it makes it difficult for us to recognize other forms of life, with different social needs and expressions.

This fragmented vision can become a barrier to awareness of the different needs and aspirations that the city residents need to meet, but, above all, to thinking of the city as a space where diversity, healthy community coexistence and prosperity for all must converge. Inclusive urban planning must keep these differences in mind, and good urban management must work sustainably with the community to broaden its view of each.

In many of our cities, the multiple views and perceptions of residents can be sources of creativity and innovation, which are drivers of vitality and social and economic growth. However, they can also exacerbate social exclusion if these views come from the wrong use. This includes e.g. the person who collects cardboard for recycling and perceives the streets as a supplier and not as public spaces for communication and integration; the child begging for money in busy corners, because he conceives them mainly as a source of income for his family and not as spaces for transit, connectivity or recreation; or a person in a wheelchair who looks at the city as a series of obstacles to overcome on a daily basis and not as a territory for full life, work and recreation; or an older adult when the mobility system prevents them from moving comfortably and safely to satisfy their needs; or by an immigrant or someone of a specific ethnic group, when the local labor market exposes the prejudices that prevent their access with equal rights and opportunities.

Personal and community awareness of these differences encourages a more accurate identification of the multiple urban barriers that prevent all people from fully enjoying the opportunities that exist—or should exist—in all cities. Although in terms of quantity, people with the lowest socio-economic status are usually most affected by these barriers—which, on the other hand, condition their perception of the type of city in which they live—, there are also specific barriers in cities for people excluded due to their gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or physical and intellectual abilities.

Modern urban planning and design must take all these obstacles and views into consideration. Based on this recognition, the city can gain value and become a true space for diversity, offering safe spaces for child care activities and for older adults; appropriate equipment and facilities such as acoustic traffic signals or ramps for comfortable and safe access to parks, squares, sidewalks, public buildings for people with different physical abilities, older adults and children; greener and safer neighborhoods for all, prioritizing places most exposed to pollution; safe, suitable and enjoyable spaces for children to play in at a reasonable distance; personalized services for migrants from other countries to help them become full citizens; adequate and safe spaces for different religious practices and cultural expressions; the integration and safe use of LGBT+ communities into all spaces and services of the city, among other measures.

An inclusive urbanism requires consideration of all these differences and reflection on urban solutions to address them in a sustained manner. A city with a future must appropriate these multiple perspectives, and work to expand its reach to all residents with the purpose of nurturing a shared identity, which must be recognized and built, precisely, based on those differences.