TITLE:
Introducing the Physical Barriers in the City In-Between Buildings for Disabled Runners
AUTHORS:
Najmaldin Al-Taesh, Katarzyna Ujma-Wasowicz
KEYWORDS:
Mass Street Running, Disability Runners, Accessibility Design, In-Between Buildings, Physical Barriers, Revitalization
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.9 No.3,
September
10,
2021
ABSTRACT: Mass
street running has become one of the most popular sports that has taken place
in the city’s center for many years. The interest in the participation of people
with disabilities in street running has increased. Policymakers and urban
planners are also aware that improperly designed public spaces create a physical barrier for disabled people to
participating in street running independently. However, very limited
research exists to introduce physical barriers in public spaces for disabled
runners. The aim of this research was to introduce perceived physical barriers
in the city in-between buildings for disabled runners. The data were randomly
collected through an online survey of 110 disabled street runners. Chi-square analysis was carried out to find the results of perceived physical street elements and the
avoidance of the running environment’s
surfaces that become barriers for disabled runners. The t-Test was conducted to explore differences between physically
disabled and visually impaired runners in their perception of the
barriers of the running environment. This study concluded the perceived
types of street surfaces that should be avoided in running environments and perceived barriers in-between buildings that
have a negative impact on the organization of running for disabled
runners. However, the perceived attributes in-between buildings positively
influence running organizations and
encourage participation of physically disabled and visually impaired runners in the running environment.
Urban practitioners should prioritize
revitalizing in-between buildings through developing accessibility to remove all the impediments that may encourage and promote more disabled people
to participate in street running.