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Taking a walk on wheels in urban green : Discovering a portfolio of natural places for wheelchair users, employing an environmental justice approach

Equal accessibility to green space for urban residents is not a given. This thesis research has aimed to identify how urban residents that move using a wheelchair organise their visits to various types of green space located at different distances, focussing on the use value and synergy between such green spaces. A qualitative approach has been applied to address this aim, using the yet rather unestablished photo elicitation method to explore the experience of wheelchair users in green space. The data demonstrated that wheelchair users have a standard set of green spaces that are frequently visited, which can be organised in the portfolio of natural places framework. Furthermore, the findings identify the accessibility of green space for wheelchair users as an environmental justice issue, proposing implications for inclusive green spaces of varying type and located at different distances. This study forms a way forward to the integration of disability studies and environmental justice literature, has generated a better understanding of the accessibility and use value of green space for wheelchair users and can serve as a springboard for further studies in urban planning that consider an integrated approach to green space, shifting the focus beyond people’s direct residential environment.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-156863
Date January 2018
CreatorsSluimer, Nienke
PublisherStockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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