 Finally, participants’ accounts show how many disabling barriers not only restrict movement but also make urban spaces directly risky to navigate. Poor surfaces, missing ramps, narrow sidewalks, high curbs, and unexpected obstacles force participants to choose dangerous solutions, such as moving onto bike lanes or roads, navigating close to traffic, or moving without clear sightlines. Here, ableism manifests in the acceptance that some population groups face inherently higher risks than others. It is not merely the participants’ functional abilities that make these situations dangerous; it is the city’s design.

Encountering a world that feels dangerous

The analysis also demonstrates how the same structural conditions limit participants’ freedom of action and opportunities. When barriers make moving around difficult or exhausting, their options are curtailed and the world ‘shrinks’, places become inaccessible, spontaneous decisions become unmanageable, and urban space narrows to areas where they already know the conditions.

University of North Texas

Participants also report that disabling barriers make life in the city feel dangerous. Previous studies have documented an increased risk of fatal accidents, traffic injuries, hospitalizations, and collisions for people with disabilities, and participants in this research project likewise described experiencing a higher risk of slipping, falling, tipping over, being hit by vehicles, or otherwise getting injured when navigating a world where their needs are not considered in the design of urban spaces and infrastructure. 

Participant Experiences of Navigating in the City

Nielsen, C. H. (2026). ‘Although it’s a path, it still feels like an enclosure’ .– experiences with disabling barriers in urban spaces. Disability & Society, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2026.2659093

‘Although it’s a path, it still feels like an enclosure’ .– experiences with disabling barriers in urban spaces

Encountering a world that restricts:

The goal is for future design practices to increasingly employ co-creation, with the designer acting more as a facilitator rather than an expert. It is precisely through diverse perspectives that we can develop universal design solutions that challenge normative standards and instead offer a repertoire of options that address different bodies, senses, and temporal needs, so that no one is forced to constantly compensate. 

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