Funktion utan hinder : fysiskt och upplevelsemässigt tillgängliga miljöer med fokus på funktionshindrade och med Heby kommun som exempel

Sammanfattning: Accessibility is today a topic of high current interest. It is a requirement for equality and a democracy question. By the year 2010, easy measured hindrances in all of Sweden's municipalities should be cleared away; this is stated in Swedish law. The physical accessibility to our public places is particularly important for functionally disabled people since it affects their possibilities to be outdoors and also their participation in society. When designing these places, it is difficult to find solutions that fit everybody, especially since good accessibility not only should fulfill all physical requirements of accessibility but also values of experience. The questions addressed in this thesis therefore are: How is a good accessible environment created? How is an environment made as good as possible for all, despite that people have different needs? How is balance made between physical accessibility and values of experience? And, is it possible to preserve the identity and expression of a place and at the same time make it physically accessible according to all the demands of today? The work is presented in four parts, starting with a theory part where the background to the concepts of accessibility and function disability is introduced along with an overview of the legislation that concerns the accessibility planning of today. The accessibility concept consists of both physical accessibility and experience-related accessibility. A place with good accessibility is physically accessible for everybody, and has at the same time good experience-related values, so that people want to use it. The concept of functional disability has replaced the earlier used expression handicap. Nowadays the expression handicap refers to the limitations people experience in an environment with too great demands. In an environment created for all, nobody is handicapped. In order to create places for everybody, it is important to know the needs of the people that the places are intended for. For disabled people it is important with an environment with no hindrance. Visually handicapped people need an environment that is spacious and legible in color and tactility. People with hearing disabilities need environments with visual contrasts and as little noise as possible. People with cognitive impairment need an environment that is easy and logical to understand. People with allergic problems need an environment with as little allergy causing elements as possible. The second part of this thesis consists of method and realization. The method part includes inventory and analysis of the two biggest localities, Heby and Östervåla, of Heby municipality. In the inventory of the localities' physical accessibility, different hindrances in primary thoroughfares in Heby and Östervåla have been mapped out. The hindrances that were found have been analyzed and put together in maps where they are ranked with respect to accessibility hindrance. Common problems were links with uneven paving on the ground, lack of side delimitation, inaccessible crossings, obstacles in the streets such as steps and signs, lack of contrast marks and handrails in stairs, and inaccessible bus stops and benches. An inventory and analysis has also been done for Kyrkogatan, which is Heby's main centre. The analysis of Kyrkogatan includes, apart from the physical accessibility, also accessibility with experience values. The entrances of Kyrkogatan does not presently indicate particularly clearly that the centre is located further down the street. The active part of the centre, where the stores are, is today unattractive with big parking areas and an environment planned mostly for cars and traffic. The pavements on both sides of the street are at many places too narrow. The street has inaccessible bus stops, benches and has at several places birches that need to be replaced. The third part of the thesis is an application part. With the result from the earlier parts of the work as background, this part presents a proposal for Kyrkogatan that shows how the street can be made accessible for everybody. This part also includes examples of how various occurrences can be made accessible, but also a discussion on how to think when creating accessible solutions that fits everybody while still being architecturally appealing. The skill of the architect or planner is much about its knowledge of reconciliation of physical and experiential accessibility. All solutions can hold several functions. For example, a low wall can serve both as a seating place and as a thoroughfare to gather armature, vegetation, bicycle parking etc.; at the same time it can work as a guideline for visually disabled people. The wall can also be made aesthetically attractive. The fourth part of the thesis is a conclusion where analyzing methods, conceptions and conclusions are evaluated and summarized. At the end, there is a register with references and appendices.