A Data Collection Framework for Managing Accessibility and Inclusion in Urban Heritage

Abstract

Abstract. The successful implementation of inclusive design strategies cannot overlook the development of a preliminary phase aimed at gathering accessibility data of the built environment. This set of information helps achieve two major objectives: planning measures for improving the fruition of a city and communicating to end users the opportunities to exploit places. Specifically, this is fundamental in Cultural Heritage contexts both to survey their specific features and convey their historical values. To this end, such information must be accurate and gathered quickly. This paper aims to provide a set of parameters through which it is possible to comprehensively assess accessibility of Urban Heritage environments. Particularly, such task has been carried out in a more general framework targeted to investigate, how and by which tools, the current design practice achieve the aforementioned objectives. The article proposes a geometric survey through Mobile Laser Scanning system as a data gathering tool. The semantic segmentation of the resulting point cloud is envisioned as a suitable method for the extraction of the accessibility parameters proposed. Basing on first tests applied on a case study, a UNESCO site, the article provides and discusses a final proposal for the best data processing and validation, in addition to the key tools for sharing this information.

Innovative Accesibility Data Inventory Tools for Urban Environments in Historic Sites

“…The computation was conducted for the whole dataset, and the results were stored in a vector layer (i.e. a shapefile) containing the sidewalk network of the city [4]. Each portion of sidewalk analysed was converted into a point in the vector file, then edges were generated to connect the nodes and to create a proper network.…”

“…In the field of architectural design and urban planning there is a general agreement that ICT may play an increasing role in the promotion of inclusion, both as an operational tool and as a system for information sharing [3]. The first application is the focus of this contribution, in continuity with previous works from the authors [4] and showing the progress of a research project whose purpose was the definition and assessment of urban features useful for the analysis of the built environment physical accessibility [5].…”

“…This paper aims to show and compare two different accessibility data inventories: one based on Direct Experience (from now DE) and a second that applies Artificial Intelligence tools (from now AI). The work presented in [4], continued, and after the detection of sidewalk surfaces on the digital 3D survey, their geometric attributes were computed and a sidewalk network was generated and stored in a shapefile [6], in order to be easily visualized, implemented and exploited by the interested users, at all levels, from the public entities to the planners and the citizens.…”