Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view

Accessibility in public outdoor environments for those with reduced functional capacity has been gaining interest on both the international and national levels. This study investigates how accessibility issues are currently treated in Swedish municipalities in order to examine how older peoples’ acc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hanna Wennberg, Agneta Ståhl, Christer Hydén
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing 2009-09-01
Series:Journal of Transport and Land Use
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/36
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850195600738353152
author Hanna Wennberg
Agneta Ståhl
Christer Hydén
author_facet Hanna Wennberg
Agneta Ståhl
Christer Hydén
author_sort Hanna Wennberg
collection DOAJ
description Accessibility in public outdoor environments for those with reduced functional capacity has been gaining interest on both the international and national levels. This study investigates how accessibility issues are currently treated in Swedish municipalities in order to examine how older peoples’ accessibility needs are met in daily practice. A postal questionnaire was sent to all municipalities in Sweden (N=290) with questions mainly regarding three categories: (1) existence of policies and planning documents, cooperation with interest organizations, and measures implemented, (2) awareness and use of governmental directives and recommendations relevant for accessibility issues and (3) statements of how accessibility issues are treated among municipal politicians and employees as perceived by the respondent. In the data analysis, a quantitative ranking of each one of the three categories was created using questions from the questionnaire to indicate the level of accessibility implemented in municipal planning. The results show a large variation in the accessibility standard among the municipalities in Sweden. In municipalities that have planning documents, e.g. accessibility plan, accessibility issues are treated more positively among the municipal politicians and employees. This positive relationship with the treatment of accessibility was also found with factors such as municipalities have an accessibility adviser employed, municipalities cooperate with senior organizations, and municipalities use governmental directives and recommendations relevant for accessibility issues. This paper concludes that although there is still much to do to accomplish a society accessible to all citizens, a majority of the Swedish municipalities are nevertheless positive to accessibility issues.
format Article
id doaj-art-5ad51edb0bb349039c69fa1f2cf2ea40
institution OA Journals
issn 1938-7849
language English
publishDate 2009-09-01
publisher University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing
record_format Article
series Journal of Transport and Land Use
spelling doaj-art-5ad51edb0bb349039c69fa1f2cf2ea402025-08-20T02:13:43ZengUniversity of Minnesota Libraries PublishingJournal of Transport and Land Use1938-78492009-09-012210.5198/jtlu.v2i2.3644Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ viewHanna Wennberg0Agneta Ståhl1Christer Hydén2Lund UniversityLund UniversityLund UniversityAccessibility in public outdoor environments for those with reduced functional capacity has been gaining interest on both the international and national levels. This study investigates how accessibility issues are currently treated in Swedish municipalities in order to examine how older peoples’ accessibility needs are met in daily practice. A postal questionnaire was sent to all municipalities in Sweden (N=290) with questions mainly regarding three categories: (1) existence of policies and planning documents, cooperation with interest organizations, and measures implemented, (2) awareness and use of governmental directives and recommendations relevant for accessibility issues and (3) statements of how accessibility issues are treated among municipal politicians and employees as perceived by the respondent. In the data analysis, a quantitative ranking of each one of the three categories was created using questions from the questionnaire to indicate the level of accessibility implemented in municipal planning. The results show a large variation in the accessibility standard among the municipalities in Sweden. In municipalities that have planning documents, e.g. accessibility plan, accessibility issues are treated more positively among the municipal politicians and employees. This positive relationship with the treatment of accessibility was also found with factors such as municipalities have an accessibility adviser employed, municipalities cooperate with senior organizations, and municipalities use governmental directives and recommendations relevant for accessibility issues. This paper concludes that although there is still much to do to accomplish a society accessible to all citizens, a majority of the Swedish municipalities are nevertheless positive to accessibility issues.https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/36AccessibilityOlder pedestrianPlanningPolicyPracticeMunicipality
spellingShingle Hanna Wennberg
Agneta Ståhl
Christer Hydén
Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
Journal of Transport and Land Use
Accessibility
Older pedestrian
Planning
Policy
Practice
Municipality
title Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
title_full Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
title_fullStr Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
title_full_unstemmed Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
title_short Implementing accessibility in municipal planning: planners’ view
title_sort implementing accessibility in municipal planning planners view
topic Accessibility
Older pedestrian
Planning
Policy
Practice
Municipality
url https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/36
work_keys_str_mv AT hannawennberg implementingaccessibilityinmunicipalplanningplannersview
AT agnetastahl implementingaccessibilityinmunicipalplanningplannersview
AT christerhyden implementingaccessibilityinmunicipalplanningplannersview