Mobility Policies and Extra-Small Projects for Improving Mobility of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The paper focuses on the relationship between cities and people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Specifically, this research aims to provide practical guidelines on how to design urban policies and urban design projects, such that they improve the capabilities of people with ASD to walk across the city and access relevant public urban spaces and facilities. Although this is a well-defined field of research, this paper should be seen as a contribution to the debate on the understanding of disability as a product of processes of human-environment interaction and as an attempt to address issues of mobility for people with disabilities by taking into account their personal characteristics and capabilities. Current methodological and operational efforts on the role of spatial configuration as a means for improving the autonomy of people with ASD focus almost exclusively on the design of closed, separated, private spaces, devoted only to people with ASD (mainly children). Starting from these considerations, the paper describes a research project aimed at defining an integrated set of urban mobility policies and extra-small urban design projects to provide people with ASD a real opportunity of using their city.

Planning and Design Support Tools for Walkability: A Guide for Urban Analysts

“…Furthermore, the study of differences in individual characteristics and needs helps to understand how people's abilities influence their use of urban space and their life in cities. In this group, we find many studies focusing on factors of walkability for particular categories of people, for example children [39,52] or the elderly [27,53], or people with disabilities [54] or individuals from different cultural background [55].…”

Independent Community Mobility and Driving Experiences of Adults on the Autism Spectrum: A Scoping Review

“…Research to date has not fully considered community mobility and driving in the natural context of participation in the environment, such as having friends and activities to spark the desire to engage in activities outside of home, which, in turn, may fuel motivation for learning skills. Emerging urban planning research with autistic communities conceptualizes disability as a mismatch in human-environment interaction and proposes interventions to increase neighborhood walkability, decrease sensory overload by attention to traffic volume, and provide visual signage (Cecchini et al, 2018). More research is needed to understand how personal interests, social connections, having community places to belong and participate, and urban accessibility affect autistic adults.…”

Capability-wise walkability evaluation as an indicator of urban peripherality

“…As argued elsewhere (Blečić et al., 2013; Cecchini et al., 2018; Talu, 2013, 2014), the capability approach, introduced by Amartya Sen (1992, 1993, 1999, 2009) and developed, among others, by Martha Nussbaum (2011), could be used as a valuable conceptual framework to investigate specific factors of the built environment which influence individuals’ freedom to use the city. The capability approach attaches central importance to the effective freedom people have to lead the kind of lives they value.…”