Accessibility in sustainable design

This year the Trustees of the RTPI Trust selected six recipients for the Trust's 2025 undergraduate bursaries.

The aim of the bursary is to promote and support diversity within the planning profession. Applicants that met the eligibility criteria are asked to write a short blog on a key issue affecting town planning at present.

One of this year's recipients, Georgina Cavanagh, shares her thoughts on how planners can deliver accessible spaces and, in doing so, support those with disabilities to live independently.

Georgina is studying the Town and Regional Planning Mplan at the University of Liverpool.

A significant issue currently seen in town planning is the lack of accessibility in sustainable design. As climate change becomes more prevalent and planners find alternatives to meet our carbon neutrality goals, vulnerable people are getting left behind. Accessibility is woven into our sustainable development goals throughout many areas including, education, growth and employment, inequality and accessibility of human settlements (United Nations, 2024). Theoretically, this means vulnerable and disabled people should be accounted for when developing sustainable infrastructure, but in practice this is not always the case.

Many disabled people rely on the ability to access public transport to get from A to B, however, they take 30% less journeys than able-bodied people due to a lack of access (Transport for all, 2023, P8). 71% of disabled people would love to use sustainable public transport but are prevented by a variety of barriers (Transport for all, 2023, P80). With many modes of transport being redeveloped for sustainability, such as The Bee Network in Manchester, this is an ample opportunity to improve our inclusivity.

The Bee Network trams are a great example of inclusivity as all trams and stations are completely step free, the touch in and out systems are easy to use and there is a variety of stations in the city center, meaning there is a greater access to work (TRGM, 2022). Despite the efforts to work towards inclusivity there are still areas that could be improved. In the suburbs there is less access to stations meaning entire towns, such as Stockport are excluded from the accessibility. The trams get extremely crowded, often leaving no room for wheelchair users to board and disembark. This could be improved by increasing frequency and adding additional carriages.

The Bee Network trams are a great example of inclusivity

Many other sectors of public transport are not as accessible. Considering a large percentage of public transport users are disabled people, there is a significant lack of step-free access in train stations, reducing independence and creating situations where mobility aid users become stranded on trains and in stations due understaffing and unmaintained lifts. This puts an additional strain on disabled people when using public transport as it becomes a significantly draining and traumatising experience meaning they are less likely to want to access these services (Kermode, 2024). Not only is this discriminatory and causing segregation, it is also reducing sustainability as disabled people are turning to cars and wheelchair accessible vehicles as their main mode of transport.

Furthermore, electric cars are growing in popularity due to their sustainability and reduced running costs. This has resulted in new infrastructure to accommodate public charging stations. To the average person this is a great addition to our built environment and creates convenience around utilising electric vehicles, however, charging ports are not accessible for everyone. Wheelchair users and other disabled people may struggle to reach these as they are up on a curb, restricting a disabled person's independence, the ability to travel long distances or ability to use electric vehicles all together (Pring, 2024). This is shutting out disabled people from contributing to a carbon neutral society and creating unnecessary barriers to a sustainable future.

In conclusion, for our society to fully embody sustainability we need to make it accessible to everyone. We, as planners, are on the right track for reaching sustainable development goals but there are always ways to improve and take greater care when designing truly accessible infrastructure.

Reference list

Kermode, J. (2024). Train services failing disabled passengers is a matter of routine. [online] North West Bylines | Powerful Citizen Journalism. Available at: https://northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/train-services-failing-disabled-passengers-i s-a-matter-of-routine/ [Accessed 12 Feb. 2025].

Pring, J. (2024). Access to electric vehicle charging-points ‘is treated as inconvenient afterthought’. [online] Disability News Service. Available at: [Accessed 12 Feb. 2025].

TFGM (2022). Accessible public transport. [online] Transport for Greater Manchester.

Transport for all (2023). Are we there yet? pp.8–80.

United Nations (2024). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Disability | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD). [online] social.desa.un.org