A GIS-based Route Mapping Tool for Disabled Access in Urban ...

162knowledge of those who encounter the problems is not used, then urban places arelikely to remain hostile environments for many people. Indeed it is apparent thatmany of the changes which have taken place in towns and cities in recent years havemade access and mobility more, rather than less, difficult for disabled groups likewheelchair users. Research undertaken by Imrie and Wells (1993) showed a widespreadignorance amongst officers about ‘planning for the disabled’. There is, therefore,a need for information systems and good quality maps that can help plannersassess and compare the effects of planning decisions on disabled access to urbanspaces, and provide a means of integrating the needs of the disabled into urban planningand design.A more immediate strategy to overcome problems of inaccessibility is to improvethe mapped information available to the disabled, in order to enable them to betterplan and control their own use of urban space. At present there is an unevenness ofinformation targeted at disabled people to assist trip-making. Where town guides doexist they often provide little more than lists of services and facilities for disabledgroups in general. Attention is rarely drawn to those facets of urban places that hinderor prevent mobility. Not all towns in the UK have access guides and often wherethese do exist they were compiled some years ago and now need updating. There isno consistency within such guides, in terms of their level of detail, range of topics,style, presentation and format. Typically, most guides only give information on aspectsof access into and within buildings, together with a list services and facilitiestargeted at the disabled, while, there is an absence of information about street environmentsand mobility options. Consequently, people with disabilities are not able tomake informed decisions about how to move around urban places (especially instreets and those public spaces between buildings). The need is for informationwhich is sensitive to the disparate requirements of different user groups, and, ideally,to the individual user. The information provided must be based more firmly on theperceptions and experiences of the disabled themselves and be more readily accessibleto users. Furthermore, it should be possible to be readily updated, so as to incorporatethe often temporary but, nonetheless, severe changes that occur in the urbanlandscape.With traditional paper-based maps and information, these requirements are noteasily met. Through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), however,the possibility exists to provide both planners and disabled individuals with up-todate,detailed and customised information to help them plan and manage their accessto urban areas. Providing this information in an interactive form would greatly enhancethe individual autonomy and quality of life of disabled people.Using GIS it is feasible to capture and integrate the relevant information at a highlevel of spatial resolution, to model either individual routes or access surfaces usingmulti-criteria assessment (MCA) techniques, and to present the results in map form.Network analysis and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques also provide the capabilityfor route modelling and route finding along networks. However, to translate thisCopyright © IGU/ISEP, Wien 2002. ISBN: 3-9500036-7-32504 EI P 906 I2 BealeL.doc 29.08.02