Urban planners and developers have predetermined markers of accessibility for recreational spaces, such as parks and playgrounds that might include ramps or the ability to travel to the space using public transportation. But whether these spaces are actually used by and functional for the communities they are meant to serve depends on perceived accessibility, a concept that Josephine Godwyll explores in a recent study.
Accessibility looks at the opportunities for people to interact with a particular space, while perceived accessibility looks at people’s considerations and perceptions of whether and how they will be able to use those opportunities.
“When you consider the perception of accessibility, you go from objective ways of measuring accessibility to subjective ways of measuring it,” says Godwyll, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation.
For example, when planning a park, developers might choose to construct it within five kilometres of several residential areas, assuming the residents will use the resource because it’s close to home (walkable). However, if that distance requires traversing what people say are dangerous roads, for example, or involves unsafe interactions with other users within the space, it might be accessible on paper but in reality it won’t get used nearly as often as the developers had anticipated. Sometimes, users report that there was limited public engagement during the planning of these spaces.
“The central focus of the paper is trying to enlighten readers on what ‘access’ means beyond the availability of space,” Godwyll says.
Read more: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/2024/08/theres-more-to-accessibility-than-availability.html
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