Landscape Design Approaches to Improve the Accessibility of Urban Parks for the Visually Impaired People

Abstract

With the increase in population in the world, it is observed that there is an increase in the proportion of individuals with different types of disabilities. One of the individuals with disabilities is visually impaired people. It is the constitutional right of visually impaired people to use the parks, which are a public place and an important socializing area for disabled people, in an easy, comfortable and safe way like everyone else. Therefore, different standards for accessibility of outdoor locations in Turkey has improved. The aim of the study is to evaluate the suitability of urban parks for the use of visually impaired people in accordance with the standards specified in the legal legislation and to propose a set of landscape design proposals to ensure that the visually impaired individuals can move freely and safely in the parks without being bound to a person. In this context, the research was carried out in the park of Karaalioğlu which belongs to the early republic period in the city center. Starting from the entrance of the park, the walkways, staircases, ramps, landscaping elements, vegetative design of the park and the maintenance/repair of the park were examined with the observation form and measurements made. The data obtained were evaluated in accordance with the standards. In this study, it was seen that flooring elements, stairs and ramps in the park are not suitable for the circulation of visually impaired people, and visually impaired people cannot use the landscape reinforcement elements used in the park comfortably and these people do not have a general knowledge about the park although they visit the park. As a result, in line with the universal design principles, landscape design suggestions for the comfortable, safe and free movement of visually impaired people in the park have been developed by considering the data obtained from the literature and observations in the park and the standards specified in the legal legislation.