The Study of Accessibility of Urban Spaces and Facilities in Lived Experience of Visually Impaired People in City of Tehran

Given that unequal opportunity in society and consequent unequal access to urban facilities and amenities are the main reasons responsible for handicapped and disabled people, this paper aims to probe the lived experience of visual handicapped people in interaction with urban space in the city of Tehran, through studying the fact that how will these spaces provide the equal chances and accesses for these people. According to the purpose of research, this study is based on qualitative method. A method of deep half structured interview has been used to collect data from the field. For this purpose, thirty visually handicapped persons living in the city of Tehran were chosen. The findings indicated that urban spaces in the city of Tehran provide a lot of physical and social obstacles for the blinded to participate in the society. This in turn puts forward a risk of threatening their physical and psycho health, imposing a dependency situation and neediness on them as well as facing them with people’s improper attitudes and treatments towards them. This means that their pattern of living has been limited to basic activities, reducing their choices and social interactions. Regarding the research findings, the paper argues that in spite of some measures and attempts by concerned agencies and authorities, yet most of the handicapped, particularly the blind, in city of Tehran, have no equally proper access to urban spaces and facilities, based on citizen rights.