Talking about public spaces that are friendly for persons with disabilities is not only done by mere planning and development without involving them directly in all aspects. The involvement of persons with disabilities must start from the level of planning, design, and implementation, up to the trial, monitoring, and evaluation stages.
In 2018, based on a survey conducted by the Kota Kita together with UNESCO, the number of persons with disabilities in Banjarmasin was 3,897. This seems to have also increased in 2022 along with the many things that have happened 3 years later, especially the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on this data, there are hundreds of persons with disabilities in every 52 sub-districts in Banjarmasin. Two sub-districts that are included in one of the sub-districts that have the most persons with disabilities are Pelambuan and Kelayan Barat. These two subdistricts also have a dense population and very dense settlement conditions. This of course greatly affects persons with disabilities who live in the region.
In 2021, through research conducted by students from the Urban Citizenship Academy together with Kota Kita, by interviewing people with disabilities and also the elderly regarding how the conditions of their settlements impact daily mobility. One woman with disabilities revealed that it was very difficult for her to leave the house, this was due to several factors. The main factor is that the road in the alley where she lives does not accessible, there are potholes in the road which sometimes get muddy when it rains, then there is also no handrail or wood to hold hands while walking. Apart from these factors, there are other factors that are also expressed by other women with disabilities, one of which is the social stigma that makes them reluctant to leave the house. Society's stigma that is still deeply rooted has a huge impact on persons with disabilities, some make it an object of ridicule, some advise them to stay at home because their presence is quite a nuisance to the people around them, and some pity them in an inappropriate way. Things like this need to get attention from the smallest level in society, the role of sustainable urban development cannot be realized if the smallest components in the city cannot sustain success in realizing this.
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| bridge in Banjarmasin, 2021 |
Talking about public spaces that are friendly for persons with disabilities is not only done by mere planning and development without involving them directly in all aspects. The involvement of persons with disabilities must start from the level of planning, design, and implementation, up to the trial, monitoring, and evaluation stages. Do not let us talk about the realization of an inclusive city but do not involve them directly, or even only involve half of the process, for example only at the experimental stage. Attention needs to be paid to involving persons with disabilities from the start. The goal is to find out in advance what basic needs they really need, what things should be in implementation, and what are standards needed so that when the facility is built, it is usable and can last a long time. Apart from that, even in the trial process, the information, aspirations, and comments provided must also be properly accommodated and followed up by stakeholders. Not only making them objects to test the feasibility of the facility but also listening directly to what makes the facility unfit for use and then making improvements afterward. Don't let things like this go unnoticed during the planning process for inclusive public facilities, there should have been a budget prepared from planning to later to the trial stage and needing re-implementation. Many things like this happen because of the neglect of involving the role of friends with disabilities in the field.
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| alley in Banjarmasin, 2021 |
The fact is that in the field there are still many inadequate road accesses for persons with disabilities as well as for the elderly and pregnant women. The lack of sidewalks in crowded locations also makes safety and comfort when walking risky, this is because there are no barriers between pedestrians and motorized vehicle users. This needs to be a concern by providing accessible sidewalks in settlement locations that have roads around them. Especially in building sidewalks with guiding blocks, do not just build them without paying attention to the guiding block pattern, without seeing and feeling it directly as a user. Of course, in the field there are still many guiding blocks that are not in accordance with the direction, making the user a danger, even guiding blocks that collide directly with trees and sidewalks that instead have two white dividing poles in the middle which make them inaccessible for wheelchair users. This should be a concern for all of us in carrying out inclusive development in order to support a Sustainable City.
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| Alley in Banjarmasin, 2021 |
Other basic things are that public facilities in the city need special attention, lest we just build a ramp without knowing what slope it should be. There should also be notice boards and instructions for friends who have difficulty hearing, this is very helpful for friends to get information. Blind people need to have speakers in public places as a tool for them to get information. Well, this still needs a lot of improvement in supporting the achievement of the Sustainable City Goals, because talking about a sustainable city is closely related to how to make the city an inclusive city, a safe and comfortable city for everyone, a city that is accessible and makes it easier for its citizens to enjoy their right to the city itself.
written by Kesuma Anugerah Yanti, 2022
1 komentar
Very nicely articulated. Brilliant.
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