Exploring the Accessibility Knowledge of Professional Planners

Abstract

Accessibility in the built environment is a critical issue that needs to be addressed to ensure people of all ages and abilities can partake in daily life. A lack of accessibility understanding among urban planners is a part of the issue of poor accessibility in the built environment. This lack of understanding largely stems from disability not being well understood by city-building professionals, an overall poor planning and design process as it relates to accessibility, and a gap in understanding who city-building professionals serve through their work. Interviews with accessibility professionals highlighted that accessibility policy and land use policy are misaligned in terms of enforcing accessibility goals and that there is an opportunity for urban planning to take a larger role in advancing accessibility. Accessibility professionals emphasized that ignoring accessibility contributes to exclusionary environments that segregate Persons With Disabilities (PWD) from the built environment and, in turn, their communities. Recommendations include centring disabled perspectives in the planning processes, working alongside dedicated accessibility consultants, and, in particular, increasing accessibility education to establish baseline accessibility knowledge for urban planners.