Evaluation Methodology for Inclusive Schools Environments. A Comparative Analysis Towards Goals and Strategies for Urban Design

Abstract

The paper deals with the issue of social inclusion in the scholastic environment where children begin to learn the set of rules that manage social life. The design of the spaces impact on people and becomes crucial to address a community behavioural change in terms of social inclusion. In line with Universal Design strategy, the paper presents a method developed for evaluating the degree of inclusion of primary schools’ spaces, which consists of the definition of an evaluation matrix. The matrix makes possible to analyse quantitative-qualitative characteristics for each school and compare them objectively. It asses the level of accessibility and inclusion of the schools through four main categories (Outdoor space, Orientation, Movement, Spatial quality) and related criteria and indicators. The reliability of the evaluation matrix has been verified through its application in seven case studies (Italian and EU), and the analysis of one of them is described in the results. The present study proposes a basis to introduce a method able to support designing educational spaces that satisfy the needs of a wide range of users according to Universal Design strategy.