Espacios públicos excluyentes para personas adultas con discapacidad

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to describe the perceptions of people with disabilities, and of actors linked to departments of design and planning of public space in the historic center of Cuenca. This study is characterized by having a qualitative approach, the scope of the research is descriptive-transversal, for the collection of data the semi-structured interview technique was applied. The study units were 4 adult men and women of 18 years and older who live in the city of Cuenca with physical and visual disabilities, and 8 actors linked to the management and urban design of space in the public service.

For the analysis of the data obtained, we proceeded through a systematization table to be organized into units and categories of analysis. This study has a phenomenological cut, since it was based on the subjective experiences of each of the participants. The perceptions of people with disabilities were identified, and the perceptions of people linked to the urban design of public space were described. Subsequently, the relationship between public spaces and the exclusion of people with disabilities was analyzed. With regard to public spaces, they have been remodeling depending on the perspective of the tourist city, from a commercial logic causing negative effects for people with disabilities, because the space does not respond to their needs and the risk that occurs as soon as to its usefulness in the displacement and its accessibility through the city.