Universal Design in Urban Public Spaces: the Case of Zafer Pedestrian Zone / Konya-Turkey

Abstract

Individuals in society who have different requirements and needs (disabled people, elders, children, prengnant women, parents with strollers etc.) go through many difficulties while accessing urban indoor and outdoor services due to the constraints originating from built environment. Universal design is the design of the environment and the product that can be used by all the people. With it's inclusive and unifying characteristics, universal design has become a design approach that have been adopted by the academia during the recent years. Planning and organizing the urban spaces with regard to the universal design principles will contribute to an increase in the life quality of all the people who use the city. This article aims to evaluate the usage of urban spaces in Zafer Pedestrian Zone, located in Konya city centre, within the scope of universal design principles. The concept of universal design in the historical process, universal design's emergence process and it's principles and significances has been discussed in the theoretical infrastructure section of the article. In the fieldwork section of the article, the suitability analysis of a chosen sample place's space usage have been carried out scrutinisingly under four chosen headlines, with regards to the universal design principles and standards.