5.5 Environmental Aspects
7.4.4 The location decision and the centralisation of facilities
8.2.2.1 Locations of facilities and planning guidelines
(e) Roadworks: holes
It is inevitable that from time to time repairs will have to be made to footways and pedestrian areas. When this happens, in cases of holes, the area where there is a hole, should be barricaded off with a continuous rail or hard structure. The use of plastics, as barricade should be avoided where, for example, the degree of danger is high, and the plastic could not be easily detected by cane, especially if it is loosely placed around the danger zone.
(f) Street furniture6
Street furniture should be located where it does not present difficulties for the wheelchair users, blind and visually impaired people. Basic design principles to be followed include,inter alia:
• Making changes in level obvious through the use different coloured/ textured paving.
• Avoiding use of kerbs: where they are necessary they should be clearly marked.
• Aligning and grouping together street furniture or planters, avoiding their random location.
• Providing seating, preferably with arms and backrests, in appropriate locations for elderly and disabled people.
• Ensuring that railings and other street furniture have a low rail enabling detection by blind people using a stick/cane.
8.2.2 LOCATION OF FACILITIES
not optimum targets for facility locations [see below - 8.2.2.1 (a) in particular].
(a) Public transport routes and bus stops
While distance of 400 metres apart have been accepted as acceptable for older people, a shorter distance (200m)7 to public transport stops would ensure greater accessibility for older and disabled people. In cases where there are retirement complexes, institutions for disabled people, on-site transport services may compensate where maximum distances are exceeded.
(b) Planning system for the location of both local and - community-wide facilities
In order to accommodate the special needs of elderly and disabled people, planners should avoid the application of any cellular system in the location of facilities. The internalised or introverted location of local Oower order) facilities to serve only single neighbourhood cell, makes the sharing of facilities between cells difficult especially in low-income areas.
Planners should encourage the clustering of functionally related public facilities to create choices for disabled people. The clustering of shopping and medical services, etc. could be beneficial to disabled people. The clustering of facilities on major roads presents a good choice for disabled people - enabling a number of household needs to be satisfied in a single trip. Essentially, some form of node/corridor system - using Neo-traditional road focus on sub-centres (or local facilities, in general) should be encouraged.
Also for community-wide facilities, the corridor system should be encouraged to facilitate accessibility.
8.2.3 URBAN FORM ELEMENTS
Planners, and other professional involved ill the planning of physical environment, should ensure that they create responsive urban environment where all people can live - by taking into account the mobility needs of different people who are populating the urban space. The following urban form elements (see Chapter 3) should be adhered to:
• Character / identity of place: the places should have clear perpetual identity - being recognisable, memorable, vivid, engaging of attention, and being different from other locations. Planning 'distinctive' places is very important, particularly, for blind and visually impaired who need to have clear 'mind map' about particular areas, so that they could easily navigate the built environment. The monotonous regimentally development of neighbourhoods may create confusion for disabled people.
• Quality of the public realm: there is a great need for the creation of public spaces and routes that are attractive, safe, uncluttered, and work effectively for everyone. For disabled people, who suffer from limited mobility, it is crucial, for example, that the roads should have sufficient traffic calming methods to provide for safe crossing on busy roads.
• Ease ofmovement: accessibility of both local and community-wide facilities could be a crucial determinant of participation of disabled people in the mainstream society. The road layout should, as a general principle, facilitate both vehicular and pedestrian circulation. However, motor stale should not dominate over human scale, especially in low-income areas, where the majority of trips are made on foot. The provision of pathways enables the pedestrians to reach facilities, without necessarily consuming a lot of energy and time.
The environment should provide choice to all its citizens.
• Legibility: disabled people should be able to establish clues and orientation within the environment. This is, particularly, important for both blind and visually impaired people who, to a large extent, rely on 'mind map' to navigate the built environment. If the environment does not have the recognisable structure, disabled people become the 'sitting ducks' of barriers in the built environment.
• Adaptability: it is very important that the environment is planned to promote adaptability for future changes. The example in this regard, is
"retrofitting", which may prove to be beneficial to disabled people, for the provision of facilities/ infrastructure, which was not originally planned as seamless part of the built environment, fit to be used by all people of different abilities and disabilities.
• Adequacy: public facilities should be as adequate as possible, in order to accommodate everyone: where there are, for example, inadequate, emphasis should be directed at placing those limited facilities at the most accessible points of the neighbourhood, or anything beyond it.
• Stress: the planning and design of the built environment should seek to provide 'comfort' for everyone. This could be done by making sure that all urban spaces are accessible and useable by all people, to a greatest extent possible. Therefore, design professionals should make sure that their 'craft' is functional for everyone.
All these elements, if reasonably adhered to, will make the built environment safe and useable by both 'able-bodied' and disabled people.
8.2.4 ALL-ENCOMPASSING RECOMMENDATIONS