Freedom of movement for disabled and elderly persons in the Asia-Pacific Region

Problems addressed

The built environment is full of obstacles that prevent disabled persons from moving about freely and safely. For wheelchair users, steps are obstacles. Blind people are endangered by the absence of safety features that they can hear and touch.

Programmes that are critical for disabled persons to break out of poverty (such as those for education and training) are located in inaccessible venues. Most community centres, parks and places of worship have not been designed to welcome users with disabilities. Public transport systems too are user-unfriendly.

Until recently, few people in ESCAP developing countries questioned the hidden costs to societies whose physical environments are full of obstacles and dangers. The costs are in terms of stress, fatigue and accidents associated with environments that have not been designed with user needs in mind.

Since 1994, ESCAP, with the support of the Government of Japan, has engaged in a series of activities to promote barrier-free environments in the developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region. This work has wide implications for all users of the built environment, not only those with disabilities. Other user groups who benefit from barrier-free environments include children, older persons and pregnant women. People carrying heavy loads, travellers with luggage and those who feel weak or ill are also beneficiaries of barrier-free design.

Interest in the removal of physical obstacles in the environment arose from ESCAP's commitment to improve the lives of disabled persons. It is central to ESCAP's promotion of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002. The Decade goal is the full participation and equality of disabled persons in all aspects of mainstream community life.

ESCAP's role

As its contribution, ESCAP issued guidelines for use by architects, urban planners and engineers (technical personnel) to help build barrier-free physical environments in ESCAP developing countries.

ESCAP also supported three cities (Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi)in using the guidelines to create pilot projects. With that support, the three cities have now generated developing country models on the promotion of barrier-free environments for persons with disabilities and older persons.

ESCAP technical assistance included the identification of pilot project sites, advice on planning and implementation and the conduct of workshops for technical personnel and user groups. Two cities (Beijing and New Delhi) also received seed money under the project. The Ministry of Construction, Government of Japan, contributed to ESCAP the services of an expert to assist in the technical design aspects of project implementation.

ESCAP actively encouraged the participation of disabled persons in the development and implementation of the pilot projects.

Beneficiaries

There are two main groups of pilot project beneficiaries: persons with disabilities and older persons who use the facilities on the project sites, and technical personnel responsible for the design and maintenance of the built environment. The introduction of barrier-free design benefits all users by raising the standards for safety, convenience and accessibility to suit all users regardless of their levels of physical stamina and the ways in which they move about.

Achievements:

Physical achievements

In the pilot project sites, physical achievements have led to improvements such as kerb ramps for wheelchair users, and tactile Braille pathways and Braille markings on bus stops for blind and low-vision persons. Other visible benefits include hand rails, accessible toilets, clear signage and symbols that facilitate disabled persons' use of facilities such as banks, post offices, schools, shopping centres, and leisure and cultural centres.

In association with the pilot projects, similar improvements have also been introduced outside of the pilot project sites.

Indigenous production of technical guidelines

Pilot project action led to the production of technical guidelines in China, India and Thailand. The indigenous versions were based on the ESCAP guidelines and adapted for local technical personnel.

Legislative development

The pilot projects have boosted the development and strengthening of access-related legislation in Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi.

Capacity building and multisectoral collaboration

Pilot project workshops brought together technical personnel, policy makers concerned with various aspects of infrastructure development, and disabled persons.

For the technical personnel (architects, engineers and urban planners) involved in the pilot projects, it was the first time that most of them came into direct contact with disabled persons. This contact, in a context of equal partnership for the success of the pilot projects, enabled both groups to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which they could work together to remove the barriers in their societies.

Through special workshop exercises conducted with disabled persons as resource persons, technical personnel directly experienced the obstacles that disabled persons have to manage in their everyday lives. This laid a solid foundation for positive change towards barrier-free built environments.

In each of the three countries (China, India and Thailand), working committees on the promotion of non-handicapping environments were formed. Their members and supporters were from diverse sectors. Disabled persons participated as active partners in these arrangements. The collaboration of diverse sectoral government agencies and disability organizations marks an important shift away from a charity approach towards one that emphasizes equal opportunities for disabled persons to be part of mainstream society.

All three pilot projects have begun to contribute to technical cooperation with other developing countries in the region. Site visits and exchange of experiences were facilitated during the final workshops in Beijing and in New Delhi. Concerned persons, many of them disabled persons, who participated in the workshops, were from Bumthang (Bhutan), Colombo, Dhaka, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Penang (Malaysia), Pattaya (Thailand), and Yogyakarta (Indonesia). There were also exchange visits between pilot project team members in Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi.

In both China and India, technical personnel and disabled persons from other cities joined in the technical workshops.

Through the pilot projects, a promising start has been made to mobilize the involvement of technical personnel in the creation of physical environments which are more friendly to vulnerable user groups such as people with disabilities and senior citizens.

In the process, ESCAP has promoted barrier-free design as universal design for safety, usability and convenience, which benefits all users of the built environment. The training of technical personnel on barrier-free design as an important factor in its long-term creation and sustainability has been recognized by policy makers.

Follow-up action

ESCAP follow-up action includes the following:

• Use pilot project documentation to produce a video on barrier-free environments.
• Support networking on access initiatives, to focus on exchange of information and experiences, including training of technical personnel and disabled persons.
• Develop guidelines on training disabled persons as trainers for the promotion of barrier-free environments.
• Explore possibilities of supporting the development of pilot projects in other cities in the region.
• Mobilize funding for a training seminar to develop multidisciplinary teams of access trainers (persons with disabilities, architects, urban planners, transport engineers, and rehabilitation professionals).