IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i11p5840-d560158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital Tools to Foster Inclusiveness: Porto’s System of Accessible Itineraries

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Lopes

    (CITTA—Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • Fernando Alves

    (CITTA—Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

The recognition, by public authorities, of the shared nature of urban places and the extent and variety of disabling conditions associated with the emergence of phenomena of social exclusion and a steadily ageing population has motivated the creation of new legislation and strategic tools under the umbrella of inclusive design and accessibility for all. This study aims to show how the use of a new interactive accessibility instrument—the System of Accessible Itineraries (SIA)—can help decision-makers, municipality services and citizens to develop pedestrian-friendly networks in their cities. An in loco analysis of the main features, weaknesses, and potential of public spaces was undertaken within a selected survey area in the city of Porto, with the aim of improving the inclusiveness of public spaces. The integration of several concerns and regulations, pertaining to inclusiveness in the design of public spaces, into an easy-to-understand summary specific to this territory constitutes an important first step towards changing the existing paradigm. Apart from the inherent advantages to citizens with reduced mobility, the SIA also has the ability to inform urban planners concerning areas in need of intervention, prioritizing the execution of corrective actions within the public space. Additionally, due to the morphological similarity of the consolidated urban fabric of most Portuguese and European cities, the adopted interactive framework also reveals a considerable potential for comprehensive replication in many city centres, reducing the physical barriers, in a more integrative land strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Lopes & Fernando Alves, 2021. "Digital Tools to Foster Inclusiveness: Porto’s System of Accessible Itineraries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:5840-:d:560158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/5840/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/5840/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lawton, M.P., 1974. "Social ecology and the health of older people," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 64(3), pages 257-260.
    2. Fernando Alves & Sara Cruz & Anabela Ribeiro & Ana Bastos Silva & João Martins & Inês Cunha, 2020. "Walkability Index for Elderly Health: A Proposal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-27, September.
    3. Saskia Bisschops & Raoul Beunen, 2019. "A new role for citizens’ initiatives: the difficulties in co-creating institutional change in urban planning," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(1), pages 72-87, January.
    4. Adam Sobek & Harvey Miller, 2006. "U-Access: a web-based system for routing pedestrians of differing abilities," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 269-287, September.
    5. Bertolini, L. & le Clercq, F. & Kapoen, L., 2005. "Sustainable accessibility: a conceptual framework to integrate transport and land use plan-making. Two test-applications in the Netherlands and a reflection on the way forward," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 207-220, May.
    6. Toby Lowe, 2013. "New development: The paradox of outcomes—the more we measure, the less we understand," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 213-216, May.
    7. Unknown, 2005. "Forward," 2005 Conference: Slovenia in the EU - Challenges for Agriculture, Food Science and Rural Affairs, November 10-11, 2005, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 183804, Slovenian Association of Agricultural Economists (DAES).
    8. Emma Puerari & Jotte I. J. C. De Koning & Timo Von Wirth & Philip M. Karré & Ingrid J. Mulder & Derk A. Loorbach, 2018. "Co-Creation Dynamics in Urban Living Labs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    9. David Harvey, 2003. "The right to the city," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 939-941, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chaoren Lu, 2014. "The role of sustainability policy in influencing service innovation. a case study of Changzhou BRT system," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(3), pages 167-168.
    2. Cervero, Robert, 2005. "Accessible Cities and Regions: A Framework for Sustainable Transport and Urbanism in the 21st Century," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt27g2q0cx, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    3. Cezar TECLEAN & Gabriela DRÄ‚GAN, 2020. "How to measure territorial accessibility. An accessibility evaluation model applied in the European Union space," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 11, pages 26-47, December.
    4. Carmen Lizarraga & Ciro Jaramillo & Alejandro L. Grindlay, 2011. "Urban development and transport disadvantage: Methodology to evaluate social transport needs in Latin American cities," ERSA conference papers ersa11p936, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Lin, Ting (Grace) & Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia) & Robinson, Todd P. & Goulias, Konstadinos G. & Church, Richard L. & Olaru, Doina & Tapin, John & Han, Renlong, 2014. "Spatial analysis of access to and accessibility surrounding train stations: a case study of accessibility for the elderly in Perth, Western Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 111-120.
    6. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2021. "On another track: Differing views of experts and politicians on rail investments in peripheral localities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Pietro Lanzini & Andrea Stocchetti, 2017. "The evolution of the conceptual basis for the assessment of urban mobility sustainability impacts," Working Papers 02, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    8. Eizaguirre-Iribar, Arritokieta & Etxepare Igiñiz, Lauren & Hernández-Minguillón, Rufino Javier, 2016. "A multilevel approach of non-motorised accessibility in disused railway systems: The case-study of the Vasco-Navarro railway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 35-43.
    9. Uroš Kramar & Dejan Dragan & Darja Topolšek, 2019. "The Holistic Approach to Urban Mobility Planning with a Modified Focus Group, SWOT, and Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-29, November.
    10. Papa, Enrica & Coppola, Pierluigi & Angiello, Gennaro & Carpentieri, Gerardo, 2017. "The learning process of accessibility instrument developers: Testing the tools in planning practice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 108-120.
    11. Silva, Cecília & Patatas, Tiago & Amante, Ana, 2017. "Evaluating the usefulness of the structural accessibility layer for planning practice – Planning practitioners’ perception," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 137-149.
    12. Tan Yigitcanlar & Md. Kamruzzaman & Suharto Teriman, 2015. "Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment: Evaluating Residential Development Sustainability in a Developing Country Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-33, March.
    13. Jacqueline Noga & Gregor Wolbring, 2013. "An Analysis of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) Discourse Using an Ability Expectation Lens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(9), pages 1-25, August.
    14. Ana Vulevic & Rui Alexandre Castanho & José Manuel Naranjo Gómez & Luís Loures & José Cabezas & Luis Fernández-Pozo & José Martín Gallardo, 2020. "Accessibility Dynamics and Regional Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Perspectives in the Portuguese—Spanish Borderland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    15. Cascetta, Ennio & Cartenì, Armando & Montanino, Marcello, 2016. "A behavioral model of accessibility based on the number of available opportunities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 45-58.
    16. Wulfhorst, Gebhard & Büttner, Benjamin & Ji, Chenyi, 2017. "The TUM Accessibility Atlas as a tool for supporting policies of sustainable mobility in metropolitan regions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 121-136.
    17. Straatemeier, Thomas, 2008. "How to plan for regional accessibility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 127-137, March.
    18. te Brommelstroet, Marco, 2010. "Equip the warrior instead of manning the equipment: Land use and transport planning support in the Netherlands," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 3(1), pages 25-41.
    19. Merlin, Louis A. & Hu, Lingqian, 2017. "Does competition matter in measures of job accessibility? Explaining employment in Los Angeles," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 77-88.
    20. Levine, Jonathan & Merlin, Louis & Grengs, Joe, 2017. "Project-level accessibility analysis for land-use planning," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 107-119.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:5840-:d:560158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.