Navigation Challenges in Urban Areas for Persons with Mobility Restrictions (Short Paper)

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promote making the world better for everyone, with a focus on creating cities that are inclusive and sustainable, as outlined in SDG 11. Spatial accessibility plays a pivotal role in fostering age-friendly and inclusive urban environments. However, there is still a lack of complete data on accessibility essential for providing mobility services to individuals with restricted mobility, mainly due to the high costs. While some participatory initiatives like OpenStreetMap (OSM) have made progress in this area, there is still a significant gap in data about sidewalk accessibility.
To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to gather information and improve our understanding of sidewalk accessibility in District 1 of Zurich. Eighteen individuals from diverse population groups took part in our study. Using the Project Sidewalk web tool (PRSW), participants collected sidewalk features like curb ramps and surface problems by virtually inspecting street view images.
In this paper, we present preliminary results derived from participatory data collection. The findings show the variances in accessibility labels concerning their frequency, spatial distribution, and severity levels attributed by participants. Furthermore, we provide insights into the accuracy of the data, verified through validation by experts in geographical knowledge using PRSW.
Our approach allowed for broader participation and diverse perspectives in collecting sidewalk accessibility data. We believe that the provided dataset has the potential to address unanswered questions about spatial accessibility. For instance, the distribution of accessibility within specific population groups or across a city can be explored. This information can help policymakers develop interventions that tackle accessibility inequalities and ensure equitable access, especially for those with mobility impairments.