Tarekegn, Misrak (2006) Challenges and Opportunities of Access and Mobility in Addis Ababa: The Case of People with Motor and Visual Impairments. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.
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Abstract
Urban areas are places where multitudes of diversified group of people inhabit. Among these groups of people are found people with different impairments. Urban life requires the provision of different kinds of arrangements to satisfy the different needs of these diversified residents. However, when different activities and arrangements are organized in the urban built environment, urban planners often overlook the specialized urban planning needs of people with different impairments making life in the urban built environment challenging for this sector of the urban society. Provisions in terms of accessible buildings, street designs and transport system that facilitate mobility are of fundamental importance to disabled persons in order to enjoy quality life. The principal aim of this paper is to find out the kind and extent of problems that people with motor and people with visual impairments encounter when trying to use services rendered in different buildings, while moving in the streets for various purposes and while using different modes of public transport. It also tries to find out why different government offices fail to notice disability issues in the areas of buildings and street design and public transport. The paper also aims to provide recommendations that can help different stakeholders to start addressing the problems that people with disability face in the urban built environment. The study focuses on people with motor impairments and the visually impaired and attempts to find out the specialized needs in the area of urban policies specifically buildings design, street environment and the transport system through a survey research. A total of 200 people with different impairments filled the questionnaires prepared, and focus group discussions were held to supplement the information obtained. Government offices participated in filling the questionnaires and personal observation was undertaken to verify the responses obtained. The major hurdle that people with motor impairments encounter in their day to day lives was found to be lack of appropriate arrangements in vehicles, followed by lack of accessible arrangements on buildings and lack of appropriate street environment. The major impediment on the day-to-day lives of the visually impaired was found to be lack of appropriate street environment followed by lack of appropriate arrangements in vehicles and lack of information about access and mobility. It was found out that there is a general lack of awareness regarding disability issues in the different government offices in the areas of buildings design, streets design and transport. The study also discloses lack of legal framework that requires different governmental organizations to consider disability issues in urban works.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races |
| Divisions: | Africana |
| Depositing User: | Tim Khabala |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jun 2018 09:15 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Jun 2018 09:15 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/4204 |
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