Acessibilidade em Praças e Parques: o caso do Parque Dom Antônio Zattera em Pelotas - RS.

Abstract

The public sector invests vast resources in public spaces revitalization projects that do not comply with universal accessibility standards as a foundation, and they end up not meeting the different needs of their users. This situation results in social exclusion. In many countries, handicap accessibility has been integrated into projects creating more inclusive cities, thus facilitating the life of people with disabilities or mobility limitations. In Brazil, despite the fact building construction regulations cover such lengths as far as public areas, we have not yet been able to bring theory into practice. This work of research proposes guidelines that will assist the public sector in their redevelopment projects of public spaces, such as squares and parks, based on handicap accessibility. In order to reach this goal, it intends to consider various different types of people and their respective handicap limitations for setting guidelines that simultaneously satisfy different groups of people regarding the accessibility of these spaces. Park Dom Antônio Zattera, located in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, has been chosen as the case study for this work because its location. The park is located near by a school for visual impaired people, kindergarten and a nursing home. In order to fulfill the research goals, qualitative and quantitative methods from the environmental perception field of study were applied. The following research methods were used: physical and photographic survey of the site, focus group, behavioral mapping method, interviews, data surveys and a walkthrough method in order to understand the user’s perception of the place. To conclude, the study reveals that the lack of methodology and design criteria leads to lack of handicap accessibility, excluding the users with limitations or disabilities, therefore decreasing the quality of life of these groups. So, the current approach neglects to and limits people’s lives, since these spaces could potentially be revitalized in order to become more inclusive and safer. Lastly, guidelines were made available for redevelopment projects of squares and parks to collaborate on future projects, thus fulfilling all handicap requirements.