Designing accessible cities
An inclusive city, by definition, must be accessible to all its people. Accessibility applies in many different contexts – from elements of individual building design to how people can access major transport infrastructure.
Addressing accessibility is often a matter of correcting historical conditions or previous design choices, for example, in the last century too many cities allowed their layout and road networks to be dominated by cars. By prioritising accessibility a city effectively commits to deliver transport networks that work for the whole community.
One of the core principles of inclusive design is to recognise that people will have different preferences, requirements and needs – how easily they can physically access stations or services, how safe they feel, how accessible transport is to disabled, disadvantaged or neurodiverse users as well as women, children and elderly populations.
At Arup accessibility is a dimension that informs many different types of our work, from urban planning to transport infrastructure design to the development of digital tools that can aid decision makers. New areas of expertise, like People Movement, are helping us to better understand how city population’s transport preferences, whether for work, social or leisure purposes.
Championing walking and wheeling
Active travel is more than a buzzword – all over the world wherever cities reclaim part of the street network for walking, wheeling and cycling, populations embrace these modes of travel. These are also interventions that increase accessibility for those with physical disabilities or who can’t afford personal transport.
Click to download 'Cities Alive: Towards a walking world' – a report on how to expand healthy, active travel options.
Beyond cars?
Arup’s Matt Higgins explores how local authorities in any city can develop a new, more inclusive mix of road users. Read the article.