Mind the obstacle: Impact of microscale street elements on urban accessibility disparities

As urbanisation accelerates, ensuring that cities are accessible and equitable for all becomes increasingly important. However, the sidewalk infrastructure often includes features that disproportionately impact individuals with mobility restrictions. Despite this, studies on spatial accessibility often overlook heterogeneities in individuals’ mobility capacities and fail to account for barriers or facilitators encountered along pedestrian infrastructure. Thus, this study aims to compare how such microscale street elements impact spatial accessibility for two population groups: mobility-impaired and visually impaired individuals. For this purpose, we enriched the sidewalk network in central Zurich, Switzerland, with fine-grained accessibility data, including the locations of kerb ramps, crosswalks, sidewalk surface problems and obstacles, and measurements of sidewalk width and slope. This information was then combined with subjective perceptions of mobility and visually impaired individuals to help determine the relative importance of each accessibility feature. Spatial accessibility was then assessed by calculating the most accessible routes between address points within the study area, capturing how different barriers and facilitators affect movement through the urban environment for each group. The results reveal significant disparities between groups: mobility-impaired individuals encounter areas with limited to no accessibility and often face routes significantly longer than those for visually impaired individuals and individuals without mobility restrictions, respectively. These findings demonstrate how specific urban features can disproportionately impact mobility for certain groups, highlighting the need for accessibility strategies that account for diverse perspectives. Based on these results, targeted, context-specific recommendations can be made to help foster a more inclusive urban environment.