Visually Impaired Persons and Social Encounters in Central Melbourne

Shirin Pourafkari
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Shirin Pourafkari: Department of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia

Urban Planning, 2023, vol. 8, issue 4, 99-106

Abstract: Urban spaces are areas where routes, activities, and people, including visually impaired persons (VIPs), intersect. Most urban research on VIPs focuses on wayfinding. However, the experience of urban spaces is not limited to utilitarian functions and also includes people’s lived experiences and random social encounters. To understand how a broader range of activities, experiences, and encounters may be better enabled, VIPs have participated in multi-method research including interviews, word games, walking interviews, and diary recordings in central Melbourne. Results not only indicate a broad range of unmediated conflicts between VIPs’ mobility needs and key aspects of intense street life but also reveal opportunities that are potentially hidden in random encounters in public spaces.

Keywords: Melbourne; social encounter; urban space; visually impaired persons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v8:y:2023:i:4:p:99-106

DOI: 10.17645/up.v8i4.6548

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