Page 87 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Maria Griva et al. Accessibility in vernacular settlements

places. Regarding tourism, enhancing the access and form supplementary regulations to the Greek legisla-
perception of heritage is expected to offer the tourism tion for architectural heritage and accessibility.
market new prospects by attracting new groups of vis- The primary defined research objectives are to in-
itors and entrepreneurs, creating new tourism destina- vestigate the following:
tions for all and improving the existing ones in terms
of the built environment and services. In the field of • The ways and means, via mainly Universal design,
learning, the objective is the provision of new learning for structuring the in situ experience of vernacular
opportunities for all. These opportunities can increase settlements for persons with disabilities.
the level of knowledge for residents, tourists, and stu- • How the enabling of access and perception of ar-
dents, which can largely contribute to heritage preser- chitectural heritage by persons with disabilities
vation via cultural awareness, maintaining heritage as can contribute to heritage sustainability as well as
an archive and educating the next generation. As for to vernacular settlements’ and cities’ sustainability.
living places, accessibility facilitates and enhances the • The processes and tools for accessibility measure-
inhabitants’ everyday environment and life, simulta- ment and evaluation.
neously offering prospects for local market develop- • The codification of the vernacular settlement’s ar-
ment. The aim is to increase the incentives to stay and chitectural environment in terms of form, struc-
live in vernacular settlements rather than to move to ture, and function.
big urban centres and live in historic centres of cities • The integration and embodiment, via integral
rather than in newer districts, which will have social, design, of accessibility elements (standards, con-
economic, and environmental benefits for local com- structions, technology) in traditional or historic
munities and places. Regarding in situ interventions, environments; and
the research aims to present ways for addressing mo- • The configuration of directions in structure and
bility and perception difficulties of different types and implementation of Greek legislation for accessibil-
levels and for reducing or even eliminating barriers ity and architectural heritage.
via design. Particularly, interventions resulting from
the integral design combining traditional or histori-
cal elements with advanced design should provide the Method of the Research
channels for having the architectural heritage experi- To verify the hypothesis above and to realise the set
ence. We must emphasise that the criterion of heritage goals, we used qualitative and quantitative research
protection always prevails. The in situ interventions methodologies (Creswell, 2015). The research method
and adjustments associated with providing means for involves:
digital access are under investigation. There are ar- • A settlement’s classification by accessibility level.
chitectural synthesis and design issues regarding em-
bodying elements (constructions, special equipment, • Developing a typology.
standardised elements, assistive technology -applica- • Evaluating recognised interventions.
tions, and digital models) into the existing heritage • Interviewing stakeholders and persons with disa-
environment. The objective is the creative and effec- bilities.
tive integration of the idiom elements (location, geo- • Conducting case studies and proposal tools.
morphology, history, place memory and architecture, Thus, the methodology will occur in different stag-
in terms of distances, height differences, inclinations, es and with the use of various research instruments:
traditional structures, forms, materials and construc-
tion techniques) and new appropriate elements for • Literature review comprised of three axes as fol-
access and perception, into traditional or historical lows: (1a) the thematic axe concerning the re-
settings and the included buildings. Moreover, direc- search’s individual questions fields, in regards to
tions configured through the above investigation can the theoretical framework and with the emphasis

Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference | 83