Sport for everyone: planning accessible and inclusive major events
Our Brisbane team is working on the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games’ Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy for the venues and villages. Read their insights on how making major events inclusive and accessible can benefit not only the Games but also the broader community, now and in the future.
Major events like the Olympic and Paralympic Games unite people of all ages, cultures, genders, and abilities. For host cities, these events offer a unique opportunity to create lasting, positive impacts for everyone.
One of the Brisbane 2032 Games’ goals is to break down the barriers of travelling to and accessing the Games and enhance community connection and participation. By working together to identify and address these barriers, we can help ensure everyone feels welcome in Brisbane in 2032 and beyond
With greater access to experiences, research, and literature than ever before, we can design the most inclusive and accessible Games in history. Our Brisbane team is working on the Brisbane 2032 Games’ Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy for the venues and villages. Here, they share insights on how making major events inclusive and accessible can benefit not only the Games but also the broader community.
Universal design fosters inclusion and joy
Sporting venues across the globe are as diverse as the cities they call home, each one shaped by its unique environment, from weather challenges to the variety of events it hosts. However, every venue can be designed universally to accommodate people of all ages, cultures, genders, and abilities.
This can be achieved through universal design, a process that creates environments usable by everyone, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptations – a single design to serve all. We are putting universal design at the heart of the Brisbane 2032 Games’ Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy to make everyone feel welcome in Brisbane, during the Games and long into the future.
The process follows the seven principles of universal design: equitable use, flexible use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and adequate size and space for approach and use. These principles extend to all aspects of a venue, including signage, lighting, seating, bathroom and access to venues and are essential when designing spaces that make everyone feel included, welcome, and safe, while also fostering joyful experiences.
This approach ensures that every step of the journey – from the point of arrival, inside the venue to the trip home – is designed to be inclusive and accommodating for all community members ensuring legibility, dignity and inclusion.
For the Brisbane 2032 Games, our goal is for everyone to have a safe, comfortable journey with the freedom to travel in their preferred way.
Navigating the city should feel easy, safe and comfortable
For both visitors and residents, navigating the city during the Games should feel easy, safe and comfortable. Enhancing our transport systems and people movement strategies for the Games can also catalyse long-term opportunities for active, accessible, and low-carbon travel.
Every attendee should feel confident in their ability to travel safely and have a range of travel options available to suit their needs – whether by public transport, wheeling, walking, or cycling. Simple changes to the built environment can have a significant impact. To make these improvements, we need to understand the whole journey, evaluate the environment, and ask the right questions.
Questions such as, “Are our pathways wide enough for wheelchairs, bicycles, and pedestrians?” and to promote active travel, “Is there enough shade to protect people from the sun, and are there spots to rest, enjoy nature, and access amenities?” Or for public transport, “How frequent are the services, and can people board and exit confidently and comfortably?”
For the Brisbane 2032 Games, our goal is for everyone to have a safe, comfortable journey with the freedom to travel in their preferred way. By offering multiple transport options we can create positive experiences and promote active, low-carbon transport choices that can be enjoyed long after the Games are over.
Listen to many voices and test your ideas
Designing venues, transport experiences, and spaces with the needs of children, women, older persons, gender-diverse individuals, those with vision or mobility needs, neurodivergent individuals, language barriers and cultures in mind ensures major events safer, healthier, more welcoming, and more enriching.
People have varying perspectives on how they want to experience major events, influenced by their past experiences. Listening to their insights can help us understand their design needs.
We must also rigorously test our design ideas with each other. By collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of experts in areas such as structures, lighting, risk, acoustics, transport planning and urban design, we can create environments that accommodate everyone.
For the Brisbane 2032 Games’ Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy, we are collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of specialists, a panel of experts and our access and inclusion consultants to ensure that every design option is thoroughly tested and will serve Brisbane during the Games and beyond.
Design with tomorrow in mind
Enhancements made to a city for a major event can transform communities. We must consider the legacy we wish to leave for Brisbane’s residents and how we can make the city more welcoming and accessible for everyone.
The Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy we develop for Brisbane 2032, along with the improvements to venues, villages, and transport made as a result, will be a significant step forward for Brisbane. It will also set a precedent for future Games and other cities across the globe bringing us closer to making every Games and city as accessible, inclusive, and welcoming as possible.
