This work aims to compare the human capacity of elderly and disabled with claims of performance in the street area. The second aim is to put the results together into a model and then check out the validity with a sample of disabled persons in pilot interviews and field studies. The results can support urban planners and designers in their decision process. It is also intended to provide consultation with associations of disabled people, builders and personnel in the health and care sector. The field study is designed to study mobility and orientation by sight. Nine people with various grades of mobility impairment (5 people) and visual impairment (4 people) compose a voluntary experimental group formed to check the validity of the model by interviews and video-studies. Facts were collected through literature studies, interviews, meetings with reference-groups and practical field studies. In the pilot-interviews the participants were requestedto grade the problems that arise in the street-space. A video camera was used to record each disabled person's walk from his or her home to the nearest public transport stop, and from his or her destination to the nearest stop. The model indicates the following general problems: (1) Holes in the pavement; (2) Uneven pavement surface; (3) Ice or snow on the pavement surface; (4) Heaps of snow along the pavement; (5) Pavement with sideslope; (6) Ramp with a slippery surface; (7) High speed of vehicles at the pedestrian crossing; (8) Lack of parking places for the disabled; and (9) Far to go from the parking place to the entrance. A hypothesis locates key problems for special groups, such as the area at entrances with a high slope and pavements combined for both pedestrians and cyclists. An example of a remaining problem is an entrance where the doorstep is made with a vertical skill. By using and completing the model is it possible to rearrange the street spaces so that human capacity gives the dimensions. (A)
Abstract