Overall statement

(click to enlarge)

Life for anyone within a place is anchored around work, security, comfort, leisure, identity and belonging, and the built environment in which they reside or encounter play a significant role in reinforcing those aspects/feelings. Urban areas are some of the main spaces within a country where many persons converge on a daily basis for various reasons. This includes persons with mobility and visual impairments and by extension the entire community. These individuals all have varying roles, capabilities and tasks to complete within a city, just like any other person, and as such their needs should be catered for by the built environment. This should be in at least public spaces (recreational parks, government buildings and transportation sites) and main establishments (entertainment venues, banks, shops and restaurants).  The government has the main responsibility and employs urban planning and policies to ensure all citizens are considered. The role of planning and policies is to control the development of a city and to resolve its problems. However, the planning and policies are only effective as its implementation. In Trinidad and Tobago the implementation of sufficient and effective measures to facilitate individuals with mobility and visual impairments are limited and this blog is filled with pictures to prove it. This has many effects on said persons and the major being social exclusion in which they may feel both” inept and inhuman.” (UWI Today, 2015)

Infrastructure throughout Trinidad and Tobago are shown in the images above which are established to accommodate persons with disabilities.

Reference

Leading the Charge. (2015, April). UWI Today. Retrieved from http://sta.uwi.edu/uwiToday/article14.asp