The right to accessible cities: the perceptions and wishes of people with Down Syndrome in Brazil and Portugal

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-469-3_15How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Accessibility; Down Syndrome; Social Model of Disability

Abstract

The present investigation arises from the belief that nothing can be discussed about inclusive public spaces without questioning the exclusion of people with the most diverse types of disabilities from such spaces. However, accessibility is far from being a recurring theme in public urbanization policies and in academic debate environments. In this investigation, the focus is on people with Down Syndrome (DS). When choosing to discuss the desires and perceptions of people with DS about urban accessibility, an even more invisible path is traced. In fact, the few studies that discuss the inclusion of people with disabilities (PwD) in participatory decision-making processes regarding the feasibility of accessible urban spaces are focused on people with physical disabilities. Interviews with 34 people with DS, 18 in Brazil and 16 in Portugal, revealed people full of ideas and willingness to intervene and break the silence about accessible cities. Refusing the label that is socially placed on them as eternal children, the interviewees demonstrated that they understand the centrality of urban spaces in the search for social justice. Narratives showed that people with DS ask for putting into practice the social model of disability in decisions related to urban accessibility. In other words, it is urgent to problematize barriers – whether architectural or attitudinal – so that the centrality of accessibility is not exclusively based on the bodies and cognitions of PwD, but on their perceptions and wishes.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Marina Dias de Faria
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/08/26
TI  - The right to accessible cities: the perceptions and wishes of people with Down Syndrome in Brazil and Portugal
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Nature for Innovative and Inclusive Urban Regeneration (NATiURB 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 183
EP  - 191
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-469-3_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-469-3_15
ID  - deFaria2024
ER  -