Accessible Cities

[davidgillon]

Interesting piece on accessible cities in the Guardian. The idea of mapping and route-planning by pavement slope is sheer genius for wheelchair users, and the sooner it's adopted by the people doing mapping software the better!

It's not perfect, one section is on a residential community for autistic kids which I'm fairly sure I've seen on The Mighty (alarm bells), which somehow fails to mention the overwhelming majority of people with autism don't need community care, but otherwise it's not bad.

Comments

[cesy]

When I first read this I thought they were going to map sideways slope, which is a right nuisance in a wheelchair. But yes, uphill slopes are even worse and also need mapping. I hope OpenSidewalks spreads globally via OpenStreetMap soon.

[jesse_the_k]

What a lovely article! I wish that simply livable cities weren't an occasion for A Very Special Story, but I've always wanted to live in the future.

This element of the Danish sport centre has been appearing in my dreams for years:

Outside, a 100m ramp spirals up from the base of the hall to a sky lounge. (The ramp can also be used as a wheelchair racing track.)

Sometimes my nocturnal ramps are exterior, and sometimes they circle a towering atrium, but the notion of a multi-story building without lifts is so appealing.