Demographic trends worldwide indicate significant increases in the number of older people in the population in the coming years. There is a close link between age and disability, and the longer people live the more likely they are to become disabled to some degree. Disability takes many forms: physical, sensory and cognitive and all potentially affect people’s ability to go out and about independently. The social and economic implications of sustaining the growing population of older people are enormous. Land use planning and transport development and operation have a key role to play in enabling older and disabled people to retain independent mobility and to reduce their need for costly support from the state in more developed regions or to alleviate poverty and isolation in some developing countries. The global trends towards urbanisation mean that the number of older people in many towns and cities is growing and policy agendas such as “liveability” and “age friendly cities” are pushing authorities towards greater engagement with what older and disabled people want. At the same time, those in rural areas, particularly in developing countries, face equally severe but very different problems that are not yet fully recognised. There is a range of tools available to promote greater accessibility including legislation and funding. At the global level the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities may prove to be a catalyst for change — or provide an excuse for inertia. The concept of giving “rights” to consumers is now common in many parts of the world. But the “right” to accessible public transport or a barrier free pedestrian environment cannot be achieved without imposing obligations on those responsible for transport delivery and highway management. These include technical understanding of accessibility requirements, engagement with end users at a detailed level and investment in upgrading or replacing vehicles and infrastructure and in staff training. National and regional laws and guidelines on discrimination and rights and technical guidance are available. But there are differing views on the benefits of global standardisation and the importance of regional and local differences based on expressed needs and preferences of local people. There is currently a significant gap in many parts of the world between the overarching legal and policy frameworks and the progress on the ground. Changing political priorities, budget constraints and a simple lack of understanding of the scale and implications of the problem are all contributory factors. An absence of evaluation of the real life benefits of initiatives adds both to costs and frustrations. This is linked in part to a continuing perception that accessibility is about welfare and is therefore outside normal economic scrutiny. Policies such as the widespread availability of free travel to older and disabled people regardless of their means need to be re-examined. (Author/publisher)
Abstract