Wise City as an accessible city. Directions of positive changes in Poland on the example of academic campus at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice

Abstract

The development of any community is inextricably linked with the space in which a community functions. Neuroscience research reveal that the most negative emotions in social coexistence are triggered by exclusion, including inability to participate in public life due to architectural accessibility barriers. This means that without implementation of inclusive and pro-social space assumption, the negative, constantly functioning in numerous places state will not be changed. In Poland, a law on “ensuring accessibility for people with special needs” was enacted in July 2019, forcing administrators of public money to take measures to ensure that all facilities under their authority are adapted to the limitations and needs of users with varying degrees of disability. Due to this reason, among others, an action for widely understood accessibility was undertaken by the Silesian University of Technology. The realisation of this task overlaps with the idea of the "Wise City", which has recently been gaining increasing social acceptance and which aims to balance the influence of smart technology on urban planning and architecture through its coexistence with ecology and human potential. The aim of this paper is to present, on the example of a small public space in Gliwice belonging to the Silesian University of Technology, the planned and to some extent already implemented positive solutions not only in terms of eliminating architectural accessibility barriers but also in terms of implementing new, innovative on a Polish scale solutions for city accessibility such as navigation and information system for the blind compatible with tactile maps.