ACCESSIBLE CITY

Accessibility is more or less used internationally with the same meaning as that given to universal design (UD): the main difference is probably that UD is widely devoted to every field, from products to components and built environments, while accessibility is directly related to the building of environments in the appropriate way, to be easily used by everybody. Even if these concepts were also expressed in other countries, the term UD was first used in the United States by Ron Mace in 1985, who then affirmed that UD is an approach to design that incorporates products as well as building features which, to the greatest possible extent, can be used by everyone.
Accessibility, a term principally adopted in Europe, in many countries is also related to technical parameters, including not only a space usable by everybody but also any effort to improve safety, comfort and easy use of the environment. Accessibility was first applied to public buildings, then housing, residential buildings and related surroundings, while for transport means and departure/arrival areas, the concept firstly involved air transport, then railways and, yet not sufficiently, bus systems and maritime transport. Finally, the concept is applied to every built environment, including open-air areas such as public parks or archaeological areas.
At a legislative level, measures were addressed by the United States through the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a law focusing on all the building aspects, products and design that is based on the concept of respecting human rights. The United Kingdom established technical rules among the principal builders while other industrialized countries focused on laws on public buildings (schools, hospitals, offices).
Accessible city is a newer concept: planning an accessible city in the first half of the 1990s meant rehabilitation works to facilitate people in visiting specific tourist areas, especially of the historic centres, and allowing them to access public offices. Then, it spread to all the elements of a city, especially in new planning: pathways and pedestrian areas, bus stops, public parking, green areas, street furniture.
The accessible planning concept evolved too, introducing first only barrier-free elements, such as lifts, ramps and wide entrances, but subsequently also tools to overcome sensorial impairments (e.g. hearing traffic lights, pedestrian pathways for people with visual impairment), and in the late 1990s, a barrier was considered to be any element which could make uncomfortable the use of the environment (e.g. poor public street lighting).
Since design must face many considerations, in order to include all possible needs of end-users, the integration of disciplines is essential, from human and psychological subjects to technical and economic competencies. Design is, therefore, a sensible approach to allow the built environment and technical elements to satisfy daily life exigencies. Because users’ needs change during their lifespan, accessibility must also guarantee flexible use, which characterizes the continuous evolution of the concept.

Further reading
Christophersen, J. (2002) Universal Design: 17 Ways of Thinking and Teaching, Oslo: Husbanken.
Preiser, W.F.E. and Ostroff, E. (2001) Universal Design Handbook, New York: McGraw-Hill.

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