Radical Inclusion: The Key to Urban Transformation

Fifteen percent of the global population has a disability, which will only increase with aging demographic trends. The elderly population is expected to rise to 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Half of the world’s population already live in cities and cities will play an increasingly crucial role in promoting inclusion and addressing the needs of a rapidly changing demographic. As technology advances and assistive technologies are developed, disability will become increasingly common and cities must be transformed to be inclusive of everyone. The Capability Model argues that disability is not the attribute of the individual; instead, it is created by barriers that exist in the social environment and therefore requires social change. When barriers exist, inclusive communities work to transform the way they are organized to meet the needs of all people by mobilizing social, political, and economic factors to identify and eliminate participation barriers. Radical inclusion is a framework aimed at eliminating the barriers that hinder individuals and communities from reaching their full potential. It goes beyond full participation to create inclusive systems that promote equity and resilience. Inclusive communities aim to remove barriers that perpetuate poverty, inequality, disempowerment, isolation, and exclusion.