Transport systems are designed for the solo, male, able-bodied commuter can be hostile environments for literally anyone else. Transit is cumbersome or physically impossible for those with limited mobility, when carrying groceries or daily goods, or traveling with children or elderly relatives. Women, who typically perform primary caretaker roles in addition to performing paid work, tend to make more frequent and shorter trips with multiple purposes, which many transit systems make difficult. Sexual harassment in public spaces and transit is a common problem everywhere in the world, by effectively of constraining the rights and movements of women and LGBTQIA+ people.
Despite high growth in emerging countries, global inequality increased since 1980. The top 1% captured twice as much global income growth as the bottom 50%. As private car ownership rises globally, it contributes to growing social disparities. Unchecked sprawl is putting more distance between home and work. Car dependent culture creates further divisions between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, allowing those with cars to obtain jobs and attend schools located farther away from the city core, while those dependent on public transport have severely limited opportunities.
More than a billion people around the world also have a disability, and more than half of them live in cities. That number is expected to triple to 3.5 billion by 2050, as people age and the rate of non-communicable diseases rises. While people with disabilities are one of the largest marginalized communities in the world, almost everyone will experience some form of disability in their lifetime.
The way our cities are designed currently excludes many people with disabilities from streets and public spaces, denying a basic right to access the built environments. These barriers to access limit their autonomy and thus their participation, inclusion, and belonging in society. This harms our collective ability to thrive in cities and build social networks for well-being regardless of physical or mental ability. It is not the disability itself that limits people ultimately, but the environments we have created.