Sidewalks as places for socialization: urban equity for people with reduced mobility

Abstract Given the reduction in the equity of uses and the guarantee of accessibility in cities, the general objective of the research is to evaluate the conditions of sidewalks for groups with reduced mobility, adopting road sections in the Centro neighborhood of Curitiba, Paraná, as study objects. With a multimethod, quali-quantitative, and exploratory structure, it was developed in four phases: local characterization, technical reading, perceptual analysis, and integrated evaluation. As responses to the investigative question about approximations and distances between practice and perception of these spaces, the results show the impossibility of confirming the guiding hypothesis that meeting specialized principles allows better perceptive qualifications, enhancing identification, belonging, and appropriation of sidewalks as places for socialization, not diagnosed in this case.