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About

This website offers seven learning modules that explore key principles, strategies, and actions for dementia-inclusive neighbourhood design. The goal of this site is to equip planners and community members with the tools to design and advocate for neighbourhoods that support wellbeing for people living with dementia. Dementia-inclusive design supports wellbeing for all community members and can complement other equity-focused planning approaches, including age-friendly planning, universal design, gender-based analysis plus (GBA+), and more.


The learning modules build on the Dementia-inclusive Planning and Design Guidelines. The Guidelines were published in 2023 by the DemSCAPE project, led by Dr. Habib Chaudhury at the Simon Fraser University Department of Gerontology, and Happy Cities, an urban planning and design firm. This training program is the first of its kind in Canada to offer a comprehensive set of evidence-based strategies and actions to improve the design of the neighbourhood built environment for people living with dementia.

Click here to download the Dementia-inclusive Planning and Design Guidelines

Click here to download the Implementation Guide

The Guidelines were developed through extensive research and engagement with city planners and community members. This process included:

  1. A review of policy, grey literature, and peer-reviewed research

  2. Interviews with municipal planners

  3. A community forum to hear input from people with lived experience, care partners, community advocates, planners, and more

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About DemSCAPE

The goal of the DemSCAPE project is to generate evidence-based knowledge, knowledge mobilization tools, and resources for informing policy and practice to create dementia-friendly communities. There is limited research in this area, reinforcing the importance of evidence-based neighbourhood design principles to support people living with dementia in maintaining independence and community connections for as long as possible. The goals of this project are to: A) identify common neighbourhood destinations and built environment features that affect mobility, engagement, and participation in the community for people living with dementia; and B) develop tools and resources including planning and design guidelines for dementia-inclusive neighbourhoods, an easy-to-use environmental audit and advocacy tool, and a short video highlighting the lived experience of mobility in the neighbourhood for people living with dementia.

Visit the DemSCAPE website

About Happy Cities

Happy Cities is an urban planning, design, and research firm that uses an evidence-based approach to create happier, healthier, more inclusive communities. We work with municipalities, housing providers, developers, and community organizations to create buildings, streets, urban spaces, and policy that maximize wellbeing for people of diverse ages, life experiences, and abilities.

Visit the Happy Cities website

The DemSCAPE project, including the Dementia-inclusive Planning and Design Guidelines and this website, are supported by funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Alzheimer Society of Canada, and Alzheimer Society of B.C. (ASBC).

Project Funders

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the planners, community advocates, and people with lived experience who have contributed to the Dementia-inclusive Planning and Design Guidelines and offered feedback on a draft version of this website. 

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