How can urban rehabilitation meet the elderly pedestrian requirements? A comparison between research and practice

The study is characterized by the attention given to the implementation of a new mobility system and to the urban quality upgrading of the external spaces for pedestrians, in particular for the elderly and for the impaired people, in relation to their needs and to the location of different activities. In this design proposal, reorganisation possibilities and achievable qualitative levels prefiguration have been defined using a methodology which allows, by analysis and selection of consecutive steps, to compare residents' requirements to the performance of places, and so to individuate the needed adjustments in relation to the spaces new use. As a case study Pietra Papa in Viale Marconi has been chosen: a Roman semi-central area, built during the 60s, because of its negative features: accessibility and safety insufficiency, traffic and parking problems, functional and physical decay. The neighborhood lacks and potentialities have been analyzed; questionnaires and interviews have shown usual habits and gathering places; focusing on aged people, difficulties in handling with the surrounding environment have been detected as their main problems, especially in terms of traffic safety, of autonomy during their everyday trips, and of suitable spaces. They complain, indeed, the lack of meeting places where to stay far away from the cars and from the deafening traffic noise, and, first of all, of pedestrian paths fit for their needs. So, in order to comply with residents' wishes, a pedestrian paths system has been created, trying to link the most important attractions: the schools, the riverside, the local post office, the church, the elderly center, the area bus stops. To do that, the infrastructure has been remodeled thanks to some traffic calming devices (raised crossings, chicanes, cul de sacs, carriageway reductions), designed not only using alignment and profile technical solutions, but also environmental elements and techniques, such as landscaping, plantings, lighting, colours, materials and so on. The main axis, a central street of the area, is structured with a sequence of various spaces with different roles