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A Literature Review on Urban Usability and Accessibility to Investigate the Related Criteria for Equality in the City

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Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2021 (ICCSA 2021)

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Abstract

The environmental issues and, in recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic determined an increasing consensus around the need for urban policies aimed at re-shaping the urban realm. The issue of equality and the related conditions of accessibility and usability emerge as critical requirements in the re-shaping of the urban landscape and mobility. As a consequence, the proposed article discusses a comprehensive literature review on the topics of usability and accessibility and of the complementary notions of disability and exclusion. The objectives of the literature review are to define a taxonomy of the different dimensions of usability and accessibility, to assess the relevance of the different forms of usability and accessibility across disciplinary fields related to urban and transportation studies, to identify the co-relations among specific aspects of urbanity and mobility and conditions of accessibility and usability. The proposed literature review is the preliminary stage of a study aimed at defining a methodological framework for quantitatively describing the urban environment in terms of its accessibility and usability. The proposed defines the theoretical framework of an analysis method for evaluating inequality incorporated into the urban environment and for facilitating smart decisions and holistic design in the context of urban planning.

This paper is the result of the joint work of the authors. ‘Abstract’ ‘Methodology’ and ‘Results’ with its subparagraphs were written jointly by all authors. Francesco Pinna wrote the ‘Introduction’, Chiara Garau wrote ‘Discussion and Conclusions’ and Alfonso Annunziata the ‘Theoretical framework’.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the MIUR through the project “WEAKI TRANSIT: WEAK-demand areas Innovative TRANsport Shared services for Italian Towns (Project protocol: 20174ARRHT_004; CUP Code: F74I19001290001), financed with the PRIN 2017 (Research Projects of National Relevance) programme. We authorize the MIUR to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notations thereon. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MIUR. This study was developed within the Interdepartmental Center of the University of Cagliari “Cagliari Accessibility Lab”. This study was also supported by a project founded by the Foundation of Sardinia and Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Fondazione di Sardegna): ‘Investigating the relationships between knowledge-building and design and decision-making in spatial planning with geodesign’, (Convenzione triennale tra la Fondazione di Sardegna e gli Atenei Sardi Regione Sardegna 2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09129, Cagliari, Italy

    Francesco Pinna, Chiara Garau & Alfonso Annunziata

Authors
  1. Francesco Pinna
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  2. Chiara Garau
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  3. Alfonso Annunziata
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiara Garau .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Osvaldo Gervasi

  2. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Potenza, Italy

    Beniamino Murgante

  3. Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

    Sanjay Misra

  4. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Chiara Garau

  5. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Ivan Blečić

  6. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    David Taniar

  7. Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Bernady O. Apduhan

  8. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Ana Maria A. C. Rocha

  9. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Eufemia Tarantino

  10. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Maria Torre

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Pinna, F., Garau, C., Annunziata, A. (2021). A Literature Review on Urban Usability and Accessibility to Investigate the Related Criteria for Equality in the City. In: Gervasi, O., et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2021. ICCSA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12958. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87016-4_38

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