A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Becoming Inclusive
In his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’, Martin Luther King pointed out: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly’. We cannot address sustainability nor meet the 17 SDGs unless we recognise that ‘network of mutuality’. As such, the concept of inclusivity is central to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals. This has been argued successfully in many UN documents, the OHCHR. It is also core to the implementation of Kofi Annan’s UN reforms (A/51/950, 14JUL97) and, indeed, now plays a significant role in World Bank policies—a ‘rights-based approach’ to development. Inclusion is usually focused on overcoming discrimination—a direct connection to human rights (UDHR, Art. 7). As architects, that connection to rights can be seen indirectly in building codes relating to accessibility. However, there is more to inclusivity in design than compliance with accessibility codes. How does the profession navigate the implementation of a broader construct of inclusivity? How do we overcome ‘othering’ in the institutions and practice of architecture? I argue that the principles of human rights help to open that broader understanding of inclusivity. There are several areas where architecture and human rights overlap and where the profession might be more effective in supporting the 17 SDGs. I argue that there are at least six intersections: participatory rights, cultural rights, accessibility rights, housing rights, environmental rights, and workers’ rights.
Becoming Inclusive
In his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’, Martin Luther King pointed out: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly’. We cannot address sustainability nor meet the 17 SDGs unless we recognise that ‘network of mutuality’. As such, the concept of inclusivity is central to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals. This has been argued successfully in many UN documents, the OHCHR. It is also core to the implementation of Kofi Annan’s UN reforms (A/51/950, 14JUL97) and, indeed, now plays a significant role in World Bank policies—a ‘rights-based approach’ to development. Inclusion is usually focused on overcoming discrimination—a direct connection to human rights (UDHR, Art. 7). As architects, that connection to rights can be seen indirectly in building codes relating to accessibility. However, there is more to inclusivity in design than compliance with accessibility codes. How does the profession navigate the implementation of a broader construct of inclusivity? How do we overcome ‘othering’ in the institutions and practice of architecture? I argue that the principles of human rights help to open that broader understanding of inclusivity. There are several areas where architecture and human rights overlap and where the profession might be more effective in supporting the 17 SDGs. I argue that there are at least six intersections: participatory rights, cultural rights, accessibility rights, housing rights, environmental rights, and workers’ rights.
Becoming Inclusive
Sustainable Development Goals Series
Mostafa, Magda (editor) / Baumeister, Ruth (editor) / Thomsen, Mette Ramsgaard (editor) / Tamke, Martin (editor) / Bristol, Graeme (author)
World Congress of Architects ; 2023 ; Copenhagen, Denmark
2023-09-03
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
British Library Online Contents | 2009
| Emerald Group Publishing | 2016
| British Library Online Contents | 2007