On October 27, 2022, the Act on Accessible Environment Construction of the People’s Republic of China (Draft) was reviewed at the Second Plenary Session of the 37th Meeting of the 13th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. This is the first law special for the construction of accessible environments in China, indicating the country’s big advance in in legislation progress of such constructions. As a member of the Standing Committee, I witnessed the reviewing process of the Draft, recognizing the strengths of Chinese system of socialist rule of law and its practice.
Legislation on accessible environment construction is a national agenda that matters the people’s aspirations for a better life and will benefit all the people. As an essential component to urban development and the improvement of urban environments, accessible environment construction would better ensure the building of inclusive cities for all. In contemporary societies, it is essential to satisfy the needs of citizens of all ages so as to advance the construction of a harmonious society. In this sense, a city being “friendly to all ages,” “inclusive,” and “accessible” is as important as being “sustainable” in urban renewal and urban-rural development. Only in this way, can we build a quality urban environment for everyone—an ideal world as depicted in the Peach Blossom Spring.
An inclusive city for all should be warm. The Draft proposes to expand the covering population towards all members of the society with accessibility needs. This would enrich and update the connotations of related concepts and ideas, representing a milestone of China’s social civilization. Today, accessible environments are no longer “exclusively” created for the disabled, but “inclusively” designed for all—not only meeting the demands of vulnerable groups (the disabled, the elderly, etc.), but also better satisfying the use and experiences of all individuals. As population aging accelerates and a series of policies released to encourage childbirth in China, how to guarantee the use of urban environments to both the elderly and children now becomes a concern to most Chinese families, to the extent that everyone can benefit from the construction of accessible environments.
An inclusive city for all should be accessible. Accessible environments provide not only inclusive generic public services, but also special services for people who might need. A safe and convenient environment shall be accessible to all when needed, providing care for all individuals at different stages of life. With their dignity protected and rights guaranteed, people will attain a more complete and lasting sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security. Therefore, the construction of accessible environments should adopt more systematic, comprehensive, continuing, and scientific universal design that can ensure everyone’s access to all roads, buildings, green spaces, etc. Lovely urban spaces shall be readily accessible to everyone.
An inclusive city for all should be comfortable and open. Quality urban development is the top goal to build China into a modern socialist country in all aspects. In the development of inclusive cities for all, it is critical to build accessible environments suitable for living, work, transport, travel, and recreation. Highly concerned by the central committee of CPC, the construction of accessible environments has realized remarkable achievements along with the social advance and economic growth. Perceivable and pervasive accessible environments have brought about significant convenience to our daily life. Still, many issues need to be addressed. Newly-built and renovated projects of urban renewal are in bad need of professional guidance in terms of the practice of accessible environment construction. We should also speed up to resolve urgent and challenging tasks, such as facility renewals for senior citizens, old residential community renovation, children-friendly environment construction, and accessible household transformation. Compulsory regulations timely issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development provide guidelines to realize accessible requirements of each project, ranging from planning, design, construction, and supervision to acceptance. This has contributed much to the broad promotion and high-quality development of accessible environments and the accessible design of urban-rural environments.
In the new era of China’s urbanization, the construction of accessible environments should be improved in quality and efficiency, in addition to availability. The Draft, developed upon China’s reality and the level of economic and social development, lists comprehensive regulations and requirements on the development of accessible environments. Thus, the construction of accessible environments should be an integral part of social development which needs feasible, high-standard solutions. Only guided by the principles of “equality, integration, and sharing,” can we—planners, designers, builders, managers, monitors, etc.—fulfill our duties to realize the envisioned accessible environments.
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Lv, S. (2022). Advance the Construction of Inclusive Cities for All via Statutory Powers. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 10(3), 4?7. https://doi.org/10.15302/J-LAF-1-010025
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