Abstract
I. The origin and purpose of the study
The mission for the "Holistic Care Environment" is to strengthen humanitarian care, expand from past practices which were designed mainly for healthy adults, to cover the mobility needs of the disabled and the elderly, study and promote the construction of building and urban environment suitable for everyone, and coordinate with related policy and technology programs for care services to enable all people, regardless of age, gender, and other physical and mental conditions to enjoy safe, convenient, and friendly living environments. In addition, the objective of the overall residential policy of the Department is based on the constitutional guarantee of the basic human rights combining with public and private resources to enable citizens of different income levels, physical and mental state, gender, age, household composition, and ethnic cultures to own habitable and dignified living environments under a healthy housing market, decent housing quality, equal and efficient housing subsidies and the planning of social housing. Among these programs, Strategy 3, “Promote barrier-free housing and community environment” under Objective 3, “Enforcement strategy for improving the quality of living environment” is one of the most critical links.
Meanwhile, as the society ages, it is a common goal for the promotions of social well-being and environmental design to identify how to provide a safe and convenient barrier-free environment for the elderly and disabled people (including permanent and temporary), among which, a regulatory system is an important foundation to achieve the aforementioned objectives. However, various authorities have the jurisdictions over barrier-free regulations in this country. Redundancies, contradictions, and unclear responsibilities also exist in some regulations. Clarifications and integrations are needed before actually building a barrier-free environment.
In summary, the purposes of this research are as follows: Adopt the space-dimension point of view to examine the inadequacies of existing regulatory system on Barrier-Free environment, including buildings, sidewalks, parks, parking spaces, and transportation systems, to identify urgent needs for improvement and to propose a feasible solution for integration.
II. Research methods and processes
This study will explore the following topics: (1) Learn the characteristics of foreign legal systems concerning barrier-free construction and transportation, and explane and examine the importance of the adequacy of the current regulations for barrier-free environment; (2) Examine the comprehensiveness of the scope and structure of current domestic barrier-free regulations and whether they meet the actual needs of the people; (3) Propose a sound framework for the legal system to mitigate the inadequacies in existing domestic regulations regarding accessibility. Based on the foregoing issues, the methods adopted for this research shall include literary analysis and consultations with experts.
First, on the literary analysis, case studies are collected from the media to identity the issues through the perspectives of the public, disability organizations, industries, academic research, and government agencies. Next, explore and compile domestic barrier-free regulations concerning the interfaces of buildings, sidewalks, parks, parking spaces, and transportation system in order to analyze and evaluate whether the status quo is able to support the mobility-impaired and achieve the goal of a barrier-free environment. This research will also examine the accessibility and feasibility, and whether continuity exists among different regulations, such as the consistency of specifications and the appropriateness of allocated quantities and design principles to identify issues that need to be solved. In addition, review the changes in international ideology, policy missions, and supporting systems in international regulations and policies as future references for our country.
Second, on the consultations with experts, summarize the contents of aforementioned studies to clarify the critical issues at this stage, and to establish strategic frameworks for future implementation as well as coordinated measures. Invite experts and scholars in industrial, political and academic fields for discussion and to provide necessary recommendations. Finally, provide recommendations on the legal aspect, explore the nature, hierarchy, function, and the timeless of the amendments, and propose measures on the aspect of resource advocacy. Integrate the recommendations and categorize the short, medium and long term goals, and invite stakeholders for discussion and to reach consensus to be used as a reference for future amendments and promotional strategies. The progress of this research will be presented in the conference during the mid and final terms.
Expected outcomes for this research include: (1) Offer comprehensive recommendations on the structure of the legal system addressing the inadequacy of existing domestic barrier-free regulations; (2) Propose feasible directions and principles for integration and the phasing of regulatory amendments.
III. Key Findings
Issues found in this study are as follows:
(I) Barrier-free environment shall apply to the entire living environment. Current regulations on barrier-free structures mainly apply to individual buildings only. Connections with environmental and transportation regulations need to be established. (Please refer to page81, Chapter 4 for details on this report.)
Currently, regulations in Taiwan mainly focus on individual public buildings which include buildings for public meetings, business, recreation, culture, education, business services and living accommodation, etc., followed by streets in urban areas, highways and public transportation systems, transportation equipments and so on. However, the connection between buildings and transportation is not sufficient; furthermore, less effort is spent on the parks and historic structures. Therefore, regulations may still be inadequate for the transformation of the overall environment to be barrier-free.
(II) Barrier-free regulations for different environments are under different jurisdictions. Integrations need to be explored in order to strengthen the functions of the regulations. (Please refer to page81-82, Chapter 4 for details on this report.)
Comparing to Japan and China, where the jurisdiction over the barrier-free regulations is unified, the regulation system and the scope of jurisdiction are scattered among different authorities in our country. For example, the Ministry of the Interior oversees the rights of the disabled, elderly welfare, social housing, urban streets, stations, and parking lots; the Ministry of Transportation is responsible for hotels, highways, parking lots, mass rapid transit systems, transportations equipments; while parks and historic structures still lack consistent regulations on the national level. Barrier-free environment needs continuity. For the elderly and the disabled people, a completely barrier-free environment does not merely refer to the buildings, the facilities and infrastructures within the community and the urban environment also have to achieve the state of "mobility" in order to provide a safe, convenient, and friendly living environment to support independent living of the mobility-impaired. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the integration of the jurisdictions to enhance effectiveness and the execution of the regulations.
(III) Integrate the barrier-free guidelines, reference manuals and programs developed by various authorities in order to achieve greater efficiency. (Please refer to page82, Chapter 4 for details on this report.)
Owing to the lack of comprehensive laws and regulations, government agencies, from the central and local level or transportation authorities set their own standards and reference manuals based on individual needs for the particular construction. Also, with each local government developing its own barrier-free programs, there will be a lack of continuity once the jurisdiction is crossed. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate or expand the scope of application to achieve greater efficiency.
IV. Main Recommendations
Based on the findings, recommendations are categorized into the immediately feasible and medium to long term, and they are described as follows:
Immediately feasible recommendations
Recommendation 1 - Develop a phased and zoned project to integrate regulations regarding barrier-free environment.
(Please refer to page88-92, Chapter 4 and page96, Chapter 5 for details on this report.)
Lead Agency: The Building Research Institute of Ministry of the Interior
Barrier-free environment does not exit fragmentally within the urban space. However, for the phasing of this study, this research temporarily distinguishes the importance based on the frequency of usage. The initial phase focuses on upgrading the living standards of the barrier-free environment, examining the facilities within the urban environment to integrate the barrier-free regulations. The later phase will incorporate the planning and design considerations from various welfare agencies. However, due to the scope and the structure of the regulations, it is necessary to conduct this research on integrating barrier-free regulations in a yearly phased and zoned manner. .
Recommendation 2 - Develop key demonstration areas for program promotion
(Please refer to page93-94,97 Chapter 5 for details on this report.)
Lead Agency: The Building Research Institute of Ministry of the Interior
The medium to long term goal for this project is to plan and construct key demonstration areas to validate the research results for the integration of the regulations. This research will screen locations where people access on a daily basis. For instance, the station is the hub, and the scope extends toward the city and county government buildings, shopping centers, and medical facilities. Phased and zoned improvement plans will be developed for the purpose of creating a friendly, convenient and comfortable environment for all with the hope of establishing a good model of barrier-free construction to promote the universal living space and to benefit all people. The following projects shall be completed accordingly: Case studies of key demonstration areas for universal living environment, the planning of key demonstration areas for universal living environment, and the promotion and implementation of these key demonstration areas.
Medium to Long term recommendations
Recommendation 3 - Propose countermeasures and alternatives for the integration of regulations on barrier-free environment, and provide references for the implementation of regulatory amendments and strategy formation.
(Please refer to page84-88, Chapter 4 and page97-98, Chapter 5 for details on this report.)
Lead Agency: The Building Research Institute of Ministry of the Interior
Support Agency: Construction and Planning Agency, Ministry of the Interior
The long term goal for this research is to propose recommendations on defining the jurisdiction in accordance with the spirit of constitutional amendments and the scope of authority as specified in People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act, and to examine the competing and complementary clauses between the content of Chapter 10, Facilities in public buildings for the mobility impaired, from Technical Rules and the Design and Construction of Buildings and other regulations.
Finally, consolidate the regulations and supporting measures on construction, facilities maintenance, resources and promotions based on the nature of the regulations, the hierarchy and functionality, and the timeliness of the amendments to organize the phasing and goals toward the later stages, and propose specific amendments on regulations and guidelines as the basis for implementation strategies for government agencies.