Kroppen och den motsägelsefulla staden
Kulturanalytiska perspektiv på funktionshinder och urbana rum
Keywords:
body disabilities, urban places, accessibility strategiesAbstract
The Body and the Divergent City
Culture analytic perspectives on disability and urban spaces
Kristofer Hansson
The city is constrained by a variety of strategies and in this article, two such strategies are highlighted: economic strategies and accessibility strategies. These strategies may function in the same urban space, but this article highlights those places where there is a potential conflict between these two. This is done mainly through ethnographic observations following people with disabilities, and focuses on what is hidden or trivialized in practices in the city. It is argued, that already in the spatiality there is often an inherent conflict between, on the one hand, a desire to create an accessible city, and on the other hand, to create a city with a strong focus on market-oriented economic growth. These two strategies create friction, which essentially becomes visible when individuals with a disability must exhibit a certain creativity to deal with obstacles or constraints that arise.
What this creativity can thus make visible are the solutions that individuals use to progress and be present in the city. At the same time, it also says something about the limitations and obstacles that exist in the city. Thus, the divergent city does not become an urban space where a multitude of bodies can be on equal terms, but instead a place where cultural and material boundaries arise that control the room by opening and closing in a constantly ongoing process. Through the two strategies the article presents an analysis of practices that can problematize The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which states the need “to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment” (Article 9 – Accessibility).
