Accessibility of the old cities for the Blind-Is Nicosia walled city accessible for the blind?

Abstract

The comfortable circulation of the blind and visually impaired individuals in the city is an issue that gains importance day by day. The study aims to examine the historic city of Nicosia, located in the north of the island of Cyprus, in terms of the blind and visually impaired access. The research was carried out in two regions called Zone 1 and Zone 2. Planning principles for barrier-free environments described by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development, were used as criteria for analyzing the streets in both zones. Research findings have been shown that it is impossible for a visually impaired person to move individually without help in Kyrenia Street in Zone 1. Although the necessary arrangements for the comfortable movement of the visually impaired have been partially made in the Zone 2, it is seen that the blind and visually impaired persons are completely ignored because of the shop owners' anxiety to display their products in front of their shops, the desire of cafes and restaurants to create outdoor seating areas, the improper placement of urban furniture, and the cars parking on the pedestrianized area even on the visually impaired pathway. Similar research on the problems of visually impaired persons in city life which has been carried out in five cities in Turkey indicated that Problems such as insufficiency of disabled roads, blocking of disabled paths in front of restaurants, cafes, and shops, and illegal parking of vehicles on the paths seem to be common problems. Our research results underlined the necessary precautions to be taken in order to ensure the circulation of the disabled without problems. The necessity of proper site management and control by the local governments were indicated. The importance of providing technological developments in this area that provide comfortable circulation of the visually impaired was emphasized. © 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.