Decoding Exclusion: Systemic Design Patterns of the Built Environment for People with Disabilities in Environmental Disasters

Whilst disabled populations face a two-to-fourfold higher risk of injury or death during disasters, these disproportionate impacts are heavily mediated by non-inclusive built environments. However, existing disaster research often focuses on broad accessibility outcomes rather than the specific design processes that result in exclusion. This study examines how non-inclusive built environment design assumptions generate acute exclusion during environmental disasters, decoding how built environment characteristics systematically constrain disabled experiences during crises. A qualitative documentary search identified 59 public online sources (2000-2024) in English and Portuguese, of which 23 met all inclusion criteria, providing 48 detailed secondary accounts from people with disabilities, caregivers, organisations, and rescuers. Using narrative synthesis, data was analysed through a design-centric lens to identify recurring relationships between lived experiences and built environment characteristics. Analysis revealed four systemic design patterns that structuralise exclusion: Independent Mobility (prioritising an "autonomous standard user", failing to account for interdependencies in mobility required during emergencies); Normative Sensory Assumptions (relying on standardised visual/auditory cues for risk communication, which become ineffective or inaccessible during environmental stress); Uninterrupted Infrastructure (assuming stable urban systems, ignoring individuals depending on continuous infrastructure access); and Disability as an Exception (specialised "add-on" or segregated solution, rather than an integral component of resilient infrastructure). Findings strongly reinforce the Social Model of Disability across physical, communicational, and infrastructural domains by demonstrating that acute risk is actively produced by exclusionary design logics rather than individual impairments. Furthermore, the study highlights that, in disaster contexts, the concept of Universal Vulnerability needs careful framing to avoid obscuring environmental barriers and diluting state accountability. Ultimately, disrupting these patterns requires embedding Universal Design as a political and architectural commitment to sustain human variation, supported by robust governance mechanisms in public policy and design education, aligning directly with UN Sustainable Development Goals.