Politiky zpřístupňování městského prostoru v České republice
Policies of accessible urban space in the Czech Republic

Author(s): Jana Línová
Subject(s): Human Geography, Public Administration, Rural and urban sociology
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: accessible urban space; Czech Republic; Municipality; public space;
Summary/Abstract: The fifth chapter discusses policies and planning of accessible public space. The text works with the approaches of universal design and tactical urbanism and applies them to concrete practical examples. It demonstrates the limits of various space designs and introduces their possible complementarity with the aim to give an overview of practical examples of municipal efforts to make public space accessible. The data collected via semi-structured interviews and the analysis of conceptional and strategic municipal documents in the Czech Republic identified cities (Brno, Olomouc, Pardubice a Praha), which have already institutionalized the agenda of barrier-free space. These cities can be placed on a timescale corresponding to subsequent phases of this institutionalization, with Olomouc being at front (after 18 years of experience with accessibility policies) and Brno, which started to remove barriers systematically only in 2017, at the opposite side. Urban municipalities use diverse tools and define their goals for in strategies and conceptions that serve as guides for multiple working groups. Some of these groups have their own budgets, in which European and state support can be used. The working groups usually belong under one of three types based on their activities: the actual barrier-removing work, conceptional and methodic work and educational work. Most visible results are usually found in public transport (public transport stops, crossings, lowering sidewalk and traffic island curbs, etc.). Strategic and systematic effort in removing barriers, which has been carried out by these four cities, can undoubtedly be an inspiration for other municipalities.

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