Measuring Disability Inclusion Performance in Cities Using Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool)

Nataša Rebernik, Marek Szajczyk, Alfonso Bahillo and Barbara Goličnik Marušić
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Nataša Rebernik: Faculty of Engineering, University of Deusto, 43007 Bilbao, Spain
Marek Szajczyk: Faculty of Social Sciences, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland
Alfonso Bahillo: Faculty of Engineering, University of Deusto, 43007 Bilbao, Spain
Barbara Goličnik Marušić: Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 1115 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-25

Abstract: Cities are exposed to a growing complexity, diversity and rapid socio-technical developments. One of the greatest challenges is as of how to become fully inclusive to fit the needs of all their citizens, including those with disabilities. Inclusive city, both in theory and practice, still lacks attention. Even in the context of ambitious contemporary concepts, such as smart and sustainable city, the question remains: Do smart and sustainable cities consider inclusiveness of all their inhabitants? Among numerous evaluation systems that measure city’s smartness, sustainability or quality of life, those tackling inclusion are very rare. Specifically, disability inclusion is hardly covered. This may be one of the reasons why cities struggle with applying disability inclusion to practice in a holistic and integrative way. This paper proposes a Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool) and Disability Inclusion Performance Index (DIPI), designed to guide cities through a maze of accessibility and disability inclusion related requirements set within the political, legislative and standardization frameworks. The testing in two European cities shows that the tool is beneficial for providing diagnosis as to how disability friendly a city is, and as such offers an opportunity for designing informed corrective measures towards disability inclusive city design.

Keywords: inclusive city; disability inclusion; urban studies; social sustainability; smart and sustainable city; city performance metrics; Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool); Disability Inclusion Performance Index (DIPI) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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