Date

2022-3-16

Author

Erçetin, Cihan

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Accessibility is a right for all. To access urban services, spatial components of urban space needs to enable each single possible trip routes free from any barriers; barriers related with legislative framework, urban space, society, and administration. In this respect, right to access stands as a well-covering concept as a starting point to understand the barriers against accessibility. The literature suggests that the Right to the City and accessibility through independent mobility are related with each other considering inclusive accessibility as a chain for persons with reduced mobility (PRMs). However, in practice, even if accessibility rules are well-defined, it is obvious that accessibility still stands as a crucial problem full of spatial, societal, and administrative barriers. As the origin of questioning the accessibility concept, the research intention began with understanding those barriers. Furthermore, analysis of current resarches, socio-demographic situation, and legal framework in Turkey reveal that there is a gap that needs to be studied and critically discussed. Differences in perspectives and in philosophical approaches make significant changes in the way that accessibility and independent mobility is perceived; and this understanding constitutes the fundamental baseline of the research and the originality of methodology, which is composed of researcher perspective for legal system analysis and spatial case study analysis, and user perspective through focus group discussions. The three research methods of the thesis are desk research, case study research, and focus group discussions. The main research question is: ‘How do legal, spatial, societal, and administrative aspects of accessibility, as interdependent processes, create barriers that prevent PRMs from exercising their right to access in Turkey?’ and the main hypothesis is ‘Right to access is a right for all and the way to have accessible cities is possible as long as a comprehensive accessibility framework is ensured including four interdependent aspects: legal, spatial, societal, and administrative.’ At the end of the research, it is revealed that a well-defined legislative framework of accessibility exists in Turkey, however there are notable spatial, societal and administrative barriers against the right to access. This research fills the gap by means of understanding the barriers; not the barriers merely focusing on legal and/or spatial as most studies tend to do, but barriers for accessibility composed of interdependent legal, spatial, societal and administrative aspects.

Subject Keywords

Accessibility, Right to the City, Right to Access, Disability, Independent Mobility

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/96767

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis