Good-quality accessible facilities in parks provide those citizens who have limited mobility an opportunity to come into contact with nature. They offer physical and mental healing and reduce medical and social costs. The study is conducted to give definitions of specific terms, the scope, general rules, detailed explanations and figures based on “Design Standards of Accessible Facilities in Activity Venues under the Jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior” promulgated by the Ministry on October 22, 2015 as a legal reference.
The key findings of the study are as follows:
(1)Accessible environments, such as parks, are important joints that encourage citizens with limited mobility to come into contact with nature. As accessible surroundings should be continuous and barrier-free, the study comprehensively considers users’ need to move smoothly between spaces, including buildings, transport facilities, and public areas like parks, greens and plazas.
(2)In response to the future trend of an aging society, the Ministry shall focus on how to make accessibility a universal idea, work for the well-being of the elderly, and expand the objects of their concern by making extensive and profound policies in order to provide accessible environments suitable to both the healthy and sub-healthy elderly and those with disabilities.
(3) Accessible environments, like parks, greens and plazas, can satisfy the housing, transportation, education, and recreation needs of citizens with disabilities. In response to the future trend of an aging society, the Ministry shall remove barriers in space and take special types of impairment into full consideration, such as vision and hearing impairment, and further achieve mental (cognitive) accessibility.
Immediately Feasible Suggestions
Suggestion 1
The Handbook of Design Standards of Accessible Facilities in Activity Venues under the Jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior is conducted to give definitions of specific terms, the scope, general rules, detailed explanations and figures.
Organizer: Architecture and Building Research Institute, Ministry of the Interior.
In response to the future trend of an aging society, the Ministry shall focus on how to make accessibility a universal idea, work for the well-being of the elderly, and expand the objects of their concern by making extensive and profound policies in order to provide accessible environments suitable to both the healthy and sub-healthy elderly and those with disabilities.
Suggestion 2
Discuss the accessible and universal design of activity venues, such as parks, greens and plazas, in the Medium-term Plan on Technological Development for a“Society Providing a Safe, Secure Living Environment for the Aged”
Organizer: Architecture and Building Research Institute, Ministry of the Interior.
Aiming to build a safe, secure living environment, the “Medium-term Plan on Technological Development for a Society Providing a Safe and Secure Living Environment for the Aged” (2016-2019) explores specifications for a universal design of plazas and public areas and under the paragraph “Promoting the Establishment of Accessible Environments”, studies the design standards of accessible sports parks. The Plan also explores the behavior of people with special impairments, such as hearing impairment, vision impairment and cognitive impairment, from a more comprehensive and detailed perspective in order to make access to parks, greens and plazas more universal.
Medium- and Long-Term Suggestions
Suggestion 3
Explore accessibility laws and regulations in Taiwan and propose recommendations based on accessible environment laws and regulations of advanced countries and the White Paper on an Aging Society with reference to an interdisciplinary integrated framework of social welfare.
Organizer: Architecture and Building Research Institute, Ministry of the Interior
Co-organizer: Construction and Planning Agency, MOI, Social and Family Affairs Administration, MOHW, Health Promotion Administration, MOHW, associations of related industries, and senior citizens’ welfare institutions
In accordance with action strategies and environmental measures for architectural space proposed in the White Paper on an Aging Society, the study explores how to adjust regulations, principles, and standard operating procedures concerning buildings, space design, and housing and refers to advanced countries like Japan and Singapore with an eye to making accessibility a universal idea and integrating building environments for the well-being of the elderly. Then, recommendations for laws and regulations, environmental technologies and administration concerning accessibility in Taiwan are proposed through departmental and interdisciplinary participation.