Accessibility and user needs: pedestrian mobility and urban design in the UK

It is over 20 years since the UK Disability Discrimination Act legislated for access in Britain’s built environment and in transport services. A decade on, the Manual for Streets signalled a rebalancing of the hierarchy of movement towards the pedestrian, redressing the dominance of the car and transport engineer in ensuring effective flow of traffic. The notion of social inclusion in transport also brought into play wider consideration of how the built environment, fear of crime and other barriers conspire to restrict mobility and access to public transport. This paper critiques access in the UK’s urban environment and to formal transport, including an assessment of design and planning guidance in the form of toolkits and models which have been developed in this period to assist transport and urban planners and designers in street and transport service provision. This will draw on a 6 year study of accessibility and user needs in transport with a focus on urban design and social inclusion. A street design audit approach will then be outlined, which responds to these access imperatives and seeks to join up the whole journey environment.

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