We moved to Australia from the UK partly because it is a lot easier to get around here outside the home. Buildings are newer, there’s more space, and generally people seem a bit more willing to help.
Of course, this is a skewed view, because I come from London – where everything is old, there’s no space, and most people are in a hurry, absorbed in their own worlds with less time to help out.
But, whilst it is skewed, I like to think it’s a fairly accurate view and certainly very relevant, given the Paralympic Games beginning at the end of August.
Access to the stadia won’t be a problem. If the new Wembley is anything to go by, these spaces will be second to none (even though it is already stipulated by law, wheelchair users in particular tend to be treated far better than their ambulant counterparts at new venues).
Anyway, the stadia aren’t the real issue. Most of the people in wheelchairs will be athletes and not the spectators!
The real problem is going to be the infrastructure & access to goods and services. I’ll talk about access to goods and services in a later blog. First though, infrastructure:
I presume that most of the athletes will want to sample what London has to offer at some point during their stay. When these wheelchair users travel and shop around the city is when London will be put to the test.
The crumbling infrastructure is a genuine issue. In a wheelchair, London is very difficult to get around. The tube is off limits (around 15% stations are fully accessible) and the traffic means that London is usually clogged up and inaccessible for anyone who relies on a car or bus to get around. And then there are the well-known parking problems.
But perhaps London will get a reprieve. Most of these athletes will be tourists in a foreign city, and therefore expecting to pay for taxis. Arguably, the main redeeming feature about visiting London in a wheelchair is that most of the taxis are accessible, making the city relatively easy to get around.
London might “get away with it”. The lack of a decent infrastructure might go unnoticed for the most part by wheelchair-using visitors, who have very different requirements from wheelchair-using residents.
