Accessibility: the pillar for inclusive cities
Urban elements can represent different scenarios depending on who is walking through them. For people without physical limitations, it is easy to walk from point A to B, even with all the barriers that can be found along the way.
Let’s divide the city’s population into four segments and the implications they face with non-accessible cities:
Children
Kids experience the city in such a different way, mostly because of any obstacle they find, is solved by the person who is looking after them.
Schools and playgrounds are the two most visited places by children. However, both don’t always offer the elements necessary to make all infants feel included as some kids may experience some physical limitations.
When it comes to infant transport, the most common are either baby carriers or strollers. The first ones offer much more flexibility as they are lighter and more comfortable, and it is easier to walk up and down the stairs. On the other hand, strollers can be a real challenge when it comes to steps, gaps, and sidewalks.
Elderly
Moving around the city as an older person can also present some difficulties. The body's joints can cause certain impediments when it comes to steps and sidewalk irregularities. Also, vision and hearing loss can be a danger when crossing streets as traffic lights can not be seen and cars are not completely heard. The step to get into a bus can be too high or there might be too many steps to get inside a building.
People with physical restrictions
Some physical features that can make walking around a real challenge are blindness/color blindness, low-vision, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, language disability, and Parkinson’s disease, as they limit the free and fast movement of a person.
People without physical restrictions
On the contrary, people with no physical and mobility restrictions can easily run after a bus and cross a street that is about to turn into a red light without hesitating.
The effects of non-accessible spaces can be quite a lot, and they usually translate into discontent. Therefore, it is imperative that governments and city planners start including elements that make a city accessible for all. Some features that could help achieve this goal are sounds, lights, colors.
For instance, the ‘metrobus’ in Mexico City is a public transport made for all. Some of its defining features are the ramp that makes it accessible for people in wheelchairs and keeps the same level for all so no need go up a step, facilitating access to children, strollers and the elderly. Inside the metrobus, there are also screens displaying the current stop and the next one, which gives a chance to the users to plan their exit.
It has braille text to indicate the station for blind people and there are patterns on the floor to indicate where they can walk without having an accident. It welcomes assistance dogs, and it also has a gender separation, giving the first half of the bus to children, women, and older people. Also, the streetlights indicate the remaining seconds the users have left to cross by displaying the time while emitting a sound that supports deaf and blind people.
When it comes to streets, it is essential to have a ramp with a reasonable slope to be able to get up on a curb, to provide an easy route to navigate for wheeled elements such as wheelchairs, strollers, skateboards, and scooters. In addition, colored crosswalks and paving marking also indicate a safe area for pedestrians and bicycles.
Inclusive playgrounds are about more than wheelchair access. They are places that ensure that all children can play together. Additionally, it provides the tools that enable children to develop not only physically but also socially and more importantly, emotionally.
By incorporating these accessible-city features, the sense of belonging in the citizens will increase, and consequently it would be a more happy place to live. Have you identified elements that make your city inclusive? Is your city made for everybody?
Jane Jacobs was an urbanist and activist that once said: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
