Zakia Hammouni

With a dual background in architecture and medicine in Algeria, Italy and Quebec, Zakia holds a doctorate in planning, design and health from the Université de Montréal.

With her interest in the quality of the built environment, Zakia has developed expertise in universal accessibility through her involvement in research projects on the social inclusion of people living with disabilities and her affiliation with CRIR (Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation). This is what motivated her to do her post-doctoral internships on universal accessibility at Université de Montréal, McGill University and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

She continues her research work by focusing on the well-being of vulnerable people in built environments, notably people living with functional disabilities, the elderly and those at risk of homelessness. She is committed to universal accessibility, and it is within Société Logique that she contributes to the development and integration of universal design in built environments.

« The attributes of the physical environment play a decisive role in people’s social participation, health and well-being. Universal design enables environments to be accessible to all from the outset. It’s a way of being fair to the whole population, designing spaces regardless of age, ability/disability, size or gender. »