What does it mean for a city to be accommodating to all its citizens?

This requires understanding how individuals feel included and valued in the places they live, and responding to their needs by emphasizing genuine inclusivity. For people with mobility challenges, it means feeling no different from others. This applies both to navigating urban spaces and engaging in social interactions.

Despite efforts to improve accessibility in Canada, many urban spaces still fall short, leaving wheelchair users facing subtle but persistent barriers. We wanted to understand the different challenges and barriers people with disabilities face when using mobility aids.

To do this, we interviewed 12 experienced physiotherapists in Iran to identify gaps in how mobility aid serve the needs of those who use them, and offer recommendations based on their extensive interactions with users.

Given the universal needs of mobility aid users — emotional well-being, social integration and functional independence — and the common challenges they face accessing health-care systems around the world, our findings can are relevant for many people around the world, including in Canada.

To create truly inclusive cities, it is vital for policymakers and experts to go beyond minimum standards and critically examine how our urban spaces continue to exclude people with disabilities.

Marketing professors Vanessa Patrick and Candice Hollenbeck have developed the DARE framework — design, appraisal, response and experience — and propose three levels of inclusive design aimed to make spaces more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Level 1 ensures accessibility through industry regulations, meeting minimum standards. Level 2 fosters engagement and equity, rooted in social justice........

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