Turning ‘disability’ into ‘ability’: opportunities to promote disability inclusive development in Indonesia
Before joining the World Bank, I worked as an urban designer and often provided advice on how the design of proposed developments could be more accessible for people with disabilities. Sadly, many developers tend to consider disability inclusion as an afterthought, meaning they incurred additional costs to retrofit poor designs, or worse, inadvertently restricted access for certain people.
Such oversights create cities that are not ‘friendly’ for people of all abilities. Disasters can further exacerbate such challenges, such as through inaccessible evacuation routes or information, poorly‑designed shelters, loss of assistive aids, and limited opportunities to rebuild livelihoods.