Are Accessibility Indices, a Smart Decision Support System Tool for Measuring Access of Mobility Impaired in Public Spaces A Review

Background There is a worldwide need for smart decision support system tools to measure, evaluate and improve the physical accessibility for varied mobility disabled users in outdoor and indoor built environment. Purpose 1. How the methodology and variables identified in research studies is pertinent for measuring access of mobility impaired in public spaces and development of Accessibility indices 2. How smart technology is integrated with decision support system tools for measuring the accessibility in public spaces and validated through scientific methods Materials and Methods The majority of studies published during 2000 to 2017 were included in the review, spread across location, infrastructure and time space based accessibility measures for mobility impaired in public spaces, for all categories of age groups. Comparison of studies at building, campus and city level for analyzing and development of smart decision support system.Results The limitation of decision support system tools integrated with technology considers few variables with one or two types of impairments and fails to demonstrate the conflicting provisions between different disability groups. It supports users and urban planners to map, identify the barriers for intervening in infrastructure improvement and facilitation. The tools brought out social exclusion and disparity in accessing the opportunities of able bodied and disabled persons. Conclusions Research leads to policy interventions, development of smart auditing tools at the planning and design stage for implementing accessibility standards for mobility impaired, elderly and other disability groups. Future studies should focus on real time modeling, utilizing volunteered geographic information for preparation of smart decision support tools. Valliappan Alagappan | Saratha Valliappan "Are Accessibility Indices, a Smart Decision Support System Tool for Measuring Access of Mobility Impaired in Public Spaces? A Review" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-6 , October 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd29338.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/civil-engineering/29338/are-accessibility-indices-a-smart-decision-support-system-tool-for-measuring-access-of-mobility-impaired-in-public-spaces-a-review/valliappan-alagappan