Paving the way to Inclusion: Reflections from Neighbourhood Mapping in South Wales

As the ISPA project celebrates its fourth year, this blog by Research Fellows Dianne Theakstone and Lisa Davison, working alongside Community Peer Researchers in South Wales, explores what makes our streets and pavements genuinely inclusive.

Drawing on neighbourhood mapping exercises, they highlight the everyday barriers older and disabled people can encounter and what these tell us about creating safer, more accessible and inclusive communities.

As the ISPA project celebrates its fourth year, this blog by Research Fellows Dianne Theakstone and Lisa Davison, working alongside Community Peer Researchers in South Wales, explores what makes our streets and pavements genuinely inclusive.

Drawing on neighbourhood mapping exercises, they highlight the everyday barriers older and disabled people can encounter and what these tell us about creating safer, more accessible and inclusive communities.

The findings strongly resonate with the Age-friendly Streets and Pavements Quick Guide, developed by the Housing LIN and Arup for the Centre for Ageing Better, which sets out practical design considerations including pavement width, crossings, obstructions, wayfinding, rest areas and maintenance.