Accessibility as design tool: a comfortable environment through the public space

Abstract

The paper describes the methodological approach proposed within H2020 ROCK project, on the adaptive reuse of public spaces in the historic city, particularly focussing on accessibility. The methodology is applied in a test-bed site of the historical context with the aim to identify integrated and effective strategies capable of shifting attention from the single building to the urban scale, following a performance-oriented approach. The goal is to contribute, through a light infrastructure, enabling technologies and new services, to the definition of a barrier-free built environment suitable to satisfy the citizen’s environmental well-being in an equitable manner. The integrated approach involved users and key factors such as: disabled associations, sectors of the Municipality, representatives and operators of cultural institutions.