How “smart cities” serve people with disabilities

Фото: Depositphotos

“Smart Cities” are so named because they differ from ordinary cities in the use of new technologies in everyday life and in special design, which makes them more functional for the people living in them.

In the US, these cities pay a lot of attention, and they receive government funding, writes Share America.

Some elements of a smart city are easy to detect: bicycles for rent, pedestrian traffic lights, counting seconds for signal changes and much more. Some features are less obvious, but also contribute to the efficient operation of the urban economy. These include, for example, traffic management systems that adapt to changing conditions. Sociology, including the analysis of crowdsourcing, helps city ​​authorities better understand the habits and needs of the inhabitants of the village.

Although the theoretical developments of “smart cities” existed already in the 1980-s, in practice they appeared only in the last ten years, when modern technologies were quickly integrated into everyday life. It is expected that by 2025, not only in the USA, but also in Europe, Africa and Latin America, the demand for “smart” urban services will increase by more than 30%.

Help for people with disabilities

James Thurston from the organization G3ict and Victor Pineda, representing the group World Enabled, told about the experience of a resident of the Republic of South Africa who tried to use the web application for people with disabilities, created with the participation of the city administration. It was assumed that it will facilitate the access of people with disabilities to public transport. The disabled person got acquainted with the bus schedule, with a footboard for wheelchairs and drove up in his chair to the bus station. But he had to hold the bus with his eyes, because there was no detailed plan on the website and he didn’t know that he could only get to the bus stop by going down a specially equipped staircase.

It was because of such stories that Thurston and Pineda came up with the initiative of the inclusive urban planning “Smart Cities for All”. They offered partnerships to city administrations and the private sector.

Cities around the world are expanding technology investments, and for people with limited capacity city ​​life is getting easier.

Inclusive access is an important characteristic of a “smart city”

Measures taken during the implementation of the Smart Cities for All initiative they are designed to eliminate inequality in cities and make them convenient for all residents, regardless of their abilities or their disability.

In such cities, modern technologies are integrated into the infrastructure. Easy access is no longer a novelty, but a feature of a well-designed design.

When in 2016, the US Department of Transportation held “Competition of smart cities”One of the requirements for its participants was the creation of all necessary opportunities for people with disabilities.

Kansas City, Missouri, one of the finalists in the competition, implemented an interactive service delivery program.

“I am proud of our kiosks,” says Meg Conger, a city government employee responsible for Americans with Disabilities Act. “Over the past six months, Kansas City has organized the work of an inclusive network of Internet kiosks, through which you can receive information and share it.”

Initially, it was assumed that the kiosks would have ordinary touch screens and voice text converters, but Meg Conger wanted more. To eliminate all obstacles for people in wheelchairs and people with limited movement, she asked to install kiosks lower than planned, and to equip them with easily readable backlit screens. Information on screens scrolls from top to bottom, and it is convenient for people with disabilities to view text at a suitable height.

“I don’t know if there will be such booths in all cities, but I want to say that they really help people with disabilities,” they say. - In them, visually impaired users can listen to information using the text-to-voice feature. They just need to plug in their headphones. ”

The Kansas City experience reflects a growing global trend. Thus, the international organization “Project PICASSO” holds an annual the conference on cooperation in the field of technology "smart cities". Thanks to the expansion of international relations, innovative solutions are spreading faster around the world, and cities are indeed becoming accessible to all.

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