Using the Ahp to Establish Inclusive Housing Development Priorities for Industry

Abstract

The lack of inclusive housing options across the developed world means that many people with disability reside in housing which does not meet their physical and cognitive accessibility requirements, as well as their social and health care needs. This situation is partly due to a) a lack of understanding by designers and developers about what consumers want from their housing beyond the necessary physical access features and b) lack of multidisciplinary understanding of the various decisions or motivating drivers that might result in a development opportunity. In order to provide some decision clarity for the complex area of inclusive housing development, an AHP was used to determine the key priorities across a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, including architects and designers, builders, disability service organisation professionals, and occupational therapists and access consultants. Despite some discipline variability, AHP results indicated three key drivers common to all stakeholder groups, namely, 'connectedness of end users', 'feasibility' and 'building specifications'. The findings assert the importance of considering the needs of end users for inclusive housing development, a consideration that is often overlooked. The findings of this study will assist development of a resource manual to assist industry throughout inclusive housing development decision-making.