The city of Marburg is known as the “Smart city of the blind”, one of Germany’s most accomodating cities for those with visual impairments. How did they manage this?
I have made several videos on accessibility in the recent months, and I really enjoy exploring this topic. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
#urbanplanning #Germany #Blind #avvesibility
If you want to learn more about the history and see more of the town, @rewboss made a video on the city from several years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcnwxYOZGgw&t=40s
Germany is often felt of as a country where you can rely on public transportation and your own two feet to get you from point A to point B no matter where you are in the Republic while Germany does have a lot more options in raw terms than the United
States as an example with Deutsche ban being a national passenger rail carrier it’s not necessarily the case that German cities of themselves are pedestrian oriented accessible or bike friendly places to live and work indeed many cities in Germany took a Car- Centric approach in the 50s and 60s when
They had to rebuild after World War II to my surprise the University Town of marberg in Hess seems to have taken a much different track of development focusing on accessible design for the Blind and Visually Impaired mberg Prides itself on being a place where the blind
Can live as easy of a life as possible and that to me is fascinating what led this town to take the steps that it did to create a more accessible environment for the Blind and Visually Impaired what steps can be taken in other towns and cities to emulate the successes that
Marberg has achieved the roots of marberg successible design go back to World War I where a blind Institute was set up to Aid young men who were Blinded By the Great War to gain confidence and life skills they needed that would allow them to reenter life
With ease exactly why marberg I’m not so sure I wasn’t able to find a definitive reason but what I can suggest is that because of its age the city was founded in the 9th century it retained a medieval character and small footprint such that the blind residents of this
Institution wouldn’t need to really do a lot to orient themselves and get around this is of course in an age before we had audible tools like a beeping crosswalk or tactile paving to alert people of curbs and such so what better place been a small medieval town in the middle of
Hess over the preceding Century marberg has grown into one of the most accommodating cities in Germany for the Blind and Visually Impaired starting from that initial prop of 3,000 soldiers today bista the blind Institute and Phillips University hosts one of the highest proportion of blind students in all of
Germany owing to this large proportion of blind students and blind residents overall the town cannot simply think of a pedestrian crosswalk and public infrastructure the same way in simple terms a pedestrian Crossing is not just painting some lines on the ground it also means you install audible
Crosswalks that help Orient a blind or visually impaired person where they need to go in a wider Urban environment like this one it’s one thing to have an audible crosswalk here and there it’s another to ensure that audible crosswalks are at a majority of pedestrian crossings that
They are loud enough that they are giving comprehensive directions to the Blind and Visually Impaired so that they can navigate safely within the urban environment like most University towns in North America and Europe marberg features a bus rapid transit system to get people where they need to go within
The city as you would expect with bus systems of all Stripes there is a signboard with all the information you might need but what of the 150 or so blind people of it call the University home in addition to providing the Braille on a sign board that every
Everyone is so familiar with there also have been Investments made in audio technology such technology in this case takes form of a button when pressed this button will provide information to the individual who uses it such as the number of the bus where it is going and when it will be
Arriving when compared to the traditional or more typical site of a bus stop sign that lists the number of the bus and the time it’s supposed to arrive in Braille the audio oriented system is a lot more fluid and dynamic any Resident of the city be they cited
Or blind can utilize the audio oriented system with ease and I would imagine it provides much more upto-date information than a typical sign as it’s a digital first system a sign might have information that’s accurate from a week ago or a month ago but routes change routes get closed timings differ so it’s
A lot clearer to have a system that can be updated at a moment’s notice on a social level and a more practical level the auditory technology that marberg has employed really AIDS in the inclusion of blind people into the town at large as one BBC article discussing the town
Notes shop assistants are used to dealing with blind customers at their storefronts many restaurants have menus and I imagine many today also have online screen reader friendly menus so to summarize marberg is a city that has a hundredy year history of accessible design and a thousand year history of
Being a medieval town but it does not take being a medieval town to be an accessible City marberg simply has done the leg work and done the steps necessary to make what would otherwise be desperate ways of accommodating and including the blind in society things like tactile paving Audible crosswalks
And audio cues at bus stops into a more cohesive hole that can get somebody from point A to point B in as seamless of a way as possible with the help of their cane or dog they can do whatever it is they set their mind to the town features
A number of blind sporting clubs like a skiing club and a horse racing club which may not be as successful as they are if the Blind and Visually Impaired residents did not feel confident and comfortable in navigating the city on their own in a safe way I would like to
End with a quote today from a student at Philips University who said for following about his time in marber linking together the technological innovations as well as the social and human factor is hugely beneficial if you’re not constantly wondering how to cross the road you’re less stressed
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This place rocks!