UNIVERSAL DESIGN STANDARDS INTEGRATION IN SENTOSA ISLAND

Abstract

As Singapore faces an increasing amount of tourists to Sentosa Island, there is rising attention placed on how universally equipped our amenities, buildings and environment in Sentosa are. It is important to ensure that all tourists regardless of age, disability or other factors feel comfortable when visiting Sentosa. It is important to tap on the opportunity to provide everyone an accessible environment. As Singapore places importance on its tourism sector and performance, it is crucial to understand if current facilities and amenities are universally sufficient and efficient for all. Findings in this study will assess if our Sentosa Island is well-equipped with products, facilities and amenities that ensure comfortability and accessibility for everyone, especially those who are disabled and elderly. Any findings that reveal ineffectiveness or inefficiency of facilities will be further analysed. The objectives of this dissertation are identifying the current facilities made available in Sentosa and assess if it follows Universal Design Standards. Additionally, this study will analyse any inefficiency, ineffectiveness and problems surfaced during the study. Lastly, recommendations will be provided for more improved facilities that aim to raise the accessibility standards for everyone within Sentosa. The hypothesis for this dissertation will be that Sentosa Island is well-equipped with effective and efficient measures or facilities to ensure the safety and accessibility of everyone visiting. This thesis consists of case studies research, site visit to Sentosa, literature reviews, survey questionnaires as well as the conducting of interviews. It was found from this research that initiatives have been made available by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to increase the accessibility and Universal Design (UD) of buildings. However it was found that it is not sufficiently incorporated in Sentosa Island as many visitors still felt dissatisfied. However, given that the study was only done over a brief period of time with a small number of survey replies, its limitations must be noted. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, recommendations were made to improve the precision and dependability of any upcoming research.