Designing Accessible Urban Furniture for Accessible Tourism Cities
Cities have a crucial responsibility to ensure good accessibility for both their disabled citizens and tourists of all ages. Many European cities are now working to create accessible, livable cities that offer a warm welcome to all visitors. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of being an accessible city for citizens and the importance of accessible urban furniture design in tourism.
Ensuring that disabled individuals can travel, use public spaces, and enjoy social areas on equal terms is a societal obligation. However, there are still not many cities that fully meet this requirement today.
As cities become increasingly congested, enjoying urban life becomes challenging for everyone, especially for disabled individuals, the elderly, people with reduced mobility, and those with temporary health issues. These groups are often excluded from significant parts of urban life, leading to social isolation.
Cities, considered as constantly evolving and living organisms, cannot sustainably provide access only to a portion of the population while ignoring the rest. This approach is not only socially unjust but also economically and politically unsustainable. It is essential to ensure accessibility for everyone to use their rights and enjoy life.
To encourage cities in this regard, the European Union supports cities willing to meet these criteria with the Access City Award. This award promotes full urban accessibility for disabled people, increasing interest in cities and boosting tourism. Implementing the necessary conditions for livability contributes to city economies and development. Cities can thrive in every sense by becoming accessible and attracting more interest and economic activity. Moreover, it should be remembered that disabled individuals already living in the city can also contribute to the urban economy.
Accessible Urban Furniture
Accessibility in urban spaces generally pertains to public transportation, urban traffic regulations (such as signalized intersections, signalized pedestrian crossings, audible traffic signals, and bus stops), and access to urban open and green spaces (streets, avenues, parks, sidewalks, and parking lots).
One of the key issues to address for making cities more accessible is urban design and accessible urban furniture. The lack or improper design of urban furniture creates inaccessible areas within the city. Especially in pedestrian zones, it is crucial to provide accessible opportunities for all without obstructing free movement.
Designing Accessible Urban Furniture
The first urban furniture items to be addressed for making cities more accessible include bus stops, benches, trash cans, poles, directional signs, phone booths, vending units, and planters.
Placement of Accessible Urban Furniture
Urban furniture should be placed to allow safe and free passage for everyone. Textural changes on pedestrian paths can help visually impaired individuals locate public spaces.
Accessible Rest Areas
Rest areas with seating units, or benches, are beneficial for all pedestrians, especially those with mobility issues. Rest areas should be located in public parks, recreational areas, pedestrian zones, and at entrances and exits of accessible areas. They should be placed at regular intervals of 100 to 200 meters. Some rest areas should be next to public restrooms and vending units. If there are benches in rest areas, a 120 cm gap should be left to accommodate wheelchair users. Seating units should be approximately 45 cm high from the ground and, if backrested, about 70 cm high. Tables should be 75-90 cm high and at least 60 cm deep.
Designing Accessible Wayfinding Elements
To facilitate wayfinding for disabled individuals, road signs, street names, and numbering should be complete and legible. Poorly placed wayfinding elements can cause pedestrian and vehicle accidents. Warning deficiencies and risks posed by traffic lights should be eliminated. Accessible routes and facilities should be clearly identified.
All wayfinding elements should be clear, simple, easy to read and understand, and visible in the dark. Wayfinding elements above pedestrian traffic are considered obstacles and should be avoided.
Designing Accessible Pedestrian Crossings
Pedestrian crossings should be arranged to ensure safe and independent passage for disabled individuals. They should be equipped with traffic control signals, and pedestrian push buttons should control crossings frequently used by disabled individuals.
Designing Accessible Boundary Elements, Handrails, and Barriers
Elements such as boundary markers, handrails, and barriers should be designed to ensure the safety and independent movement of disabled individuals, including those using their phones while walking. It is crucial to avoid obstacles and protrusions, reconsider low-level wayfinding elements, and place warning signs around obstacles. Obstacles should be placed outside the travel path whenever possible. Barriers and boundaries should be easily understandable and ideally aligned in a straight line. The minimum path width for safe navigation should be 90 cm.
Conclusion
Cities are centers of development for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social progress, and much more. An ideal urban structure contributes to social and economic advancement.
However, it is essential to preserve cities to continue creating jobs and prosperity without straining resources. The challenges faced by cities can be overcome by promoting development while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. An ideal city structure should offer equal access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation, and more for everyone. Therefore, creating an accessible urban structure is vital both socially and economically.
At Urbaniture, we continue our efforts to make urban spaces accessible. We work on designs that assist visually impaired people, deaf individuals, the elderly, and those with mobility issues, ensuring cities cater to all segments of society. If you want your city to become more functional for its residents and an attractive destination for tourists by having accessible spaces, we are ready to support you.
