A YOUNG PLANNER’S GUIDE TO BUILDING BETTER PLACES
From Wood Blocks to City Blocks by Juan Mullerat is one of the most inclusive community planning books I have read.
The young community activists/budding urban
designers address the needs of a person who uses a wheelchair for mobility.
The richly illustrated publication
emphasizes the need for wide, unobstructed, well-maintained sidewalks to
support mobility and freedom for people of all ages and abilities.
I collaborated with Juan Mullerat at
PlusUrbia Design for a half decade.
It’s where I felt like a graduated
from writer/marketer of planning – to person who could give keynote addresses on
Universal Design and Inclusive Mobility to planners, engineers and architects.
I will take tiny credit for planting
the Universal Design seed in Juan’s brilliant mind.
Both of us are Type A people with a
clear vision and sometimes a hint of stubbornness about approaches to the built
environment.
Our debates on wheelchair access,
retrofitting old buildings, reconciling healthy design issues and aspects of
Aging In Place – improved both of our professional approaches to urban design as
a way of making the world a better place.
Kudos to Juan and the PlusUrbia team
for embracing Design for All.
