By Stephanie Molloy, student physiotherapist
I was recently scrolling on twitter when I came across this interesting thread posted by Ragen Chastain (@danceswithfat) (1). The last two tweets in particular really stood out to me, especially the line “building neighborhood community around movement leaves a lot of people out and further harms and marginalizes those who are already marginalized”.
Alt text: screenshot of two tweets of a twitter thread by user Ragen Chastain @danceswithfat: Building neighborhood community around movement leaves a lot of people out and further harms and marginalizes those who are already marginalized. What we've been taught is "health promotion" actually does the opposite, and we must stop making these mistakes. 5/6 We need to focus on making movement options safe and accessible, w/ the clear message that movement/fitness is not an obligation, barometer of worthiness, or entirely within our control & that nobody is obligated to participate, but everyone who wants to should be welcome 6/6
Although this thread was about fitness, this immediately made me think about the concepts of “walkable” cities and the “15-minute city”. Essentially, the idea of having necessary services and employment within walking distance, having multi-modal transport connect different areas (i.e. buses, bike lanes, etc), and most importantly, being able to leave the car at home. These concepts want to encourage greener cities, promote exercise, and increase social interaction. (2)
But, who do the designers and city planners have in mind? Who are these walkable neighborhoods being made for? These questions led me down a rabbit hole of walkability, accessibility, and ableism and “mobility justice”.
You may think that open cities/roads, increasing walkways, even widening sidewalks are inherently good ideas that are increasing accessibility - but without the forethought of including disabled people within these designs structural ableism continues to persist.
In Aimi Hamraie’s article Crip Mobility Justice: Ableism and Active Transportation Debates (3), two quotes stood out to me:
“As a disabled person … I found that my particular ways of using built environments were not anticipated by active transportation infrastructures”
“The question of what kinds of people exist and ought to be supported in public space was not approached through the frameworks of accessibility, disability justice, or mobility justice.”
Through reading more about this topic and people’s first hand experiences, I realized that what I took for granted, as a generally able-bodied individual, as great leaps toward eco-friendliness and accessibility were actually just new ways of maintaining the same structural barriers. Failure to consider disabled people (and others who benefit from adaptations) when designing spaces is violent in and of itself. Whether intentional or not, failing to consider who and how spaces will be used, and failing to center marginalized voices and recommendations is perpetuating harmful structural violence and barriers.
It is incredibly essential for our future that we de-vehicle cities and promote sustainable neighborhoods, but these actions mean nothing without centering and actually listening to disabled people. “Walkability” should not be based solely on able-bodied 20-50 year olds abilities, and a society or community that leaves any member isolated and unable to comfortably engage is wholly unacceptable.
Within this message I think it’s incredibly important to highlight that not only do future urban designs need to be accessible, but they need to be comfortably and easily enjoyed. All individuals need to feel safe, welcomed, and wanted in all environments. Accessible design should be clear and obvious to those who require it, and not hidden away.
Connection to Health Promotion and Rehabilitation
Now, how do these ideas and topics apply to me as a physiotherapist? As someone who wants to promote healthy living and activity within all my patients?
We already know about the social determinants of health, and even about disproportionate access to green spaces and fitness spaces for many individuals (see my blog post on EnviroPhysio for more more on green spaces). Now urban planning and design is added to the list of structural barriers stopping some people from accessing fitness - or just life in general.
This leads me to the concept of Mobility Justice - mainly a document put together after The Untokening: A Convening for Just Streets & Communities 2016 convention, titled Untokening 1.0 Principles of Mobility Justice (4).
