Cuba: Accessibility through Social Infrastructure

Quality public amenities such as squares and parks with benches and trees are common in every Cuban town. People gather to socialize and share community news.

Contrasting to some of my previous posts showcasing practices of more developed countries like Japan and Sweden it is important to reflect upon how accessibility is considered in places that are not so wealthy in financial means to build more accessible spaces.  This past November I had the fortune to travel around Cuba, visiting towns and cities of all sizes.  What caught my eye in particular is the vibrant sense of community and cooperation everywhere I visited.

Cuban people are passionate, and this reflects in their culture, with a society that remains connected and a sense of community support systems that feel alive. People socialize on the streets, support and play with their neighbours and genuinely look out for each other.  Streets feel safe by day and night.  This social capital is something many western countries have lost.  By contrast Cuba struggles with crumbling infrastructure due to lack of repair, replacement, or expansion.  This is due to a variety of factors with the ongoing embargoes restricting access to materials and hard currencies and a sense of limited government organizing capacity.  Still the desire by the people for a better, prosperous society and nation is clear!

This duality of high social capital yet low economic capital requires a different approach to considering accessibility.  Increasing accessibility is typically tied to high quality infrastructure including the retrofitting of older features or integration of best practices with new development informed by codes, standards, and regulations.  However, what does that look like when funds to upgrade or replace physical infrastructure are unavailable and even basic services struggle with under-investment or neglect?

People with low vision and blindness do navigate the streets and communities of Cuba.  They are actively out and about despite little to no application of accessibility features to the streetscape and buildings.  In fact, there are more obstacles for them to navigate with roadside ditches, limited traffic controlled crossings and almost every manner of transportation using the roadways.  Some features such as textured paths are evident but very inconsistent in their application.

Housing is provided and where possible within the constrained resources of society; creative, yet inconsistent accommodations are made to infrastructure.  People with special needs or requiring accommodations remain within their communities, not institutions.  Homelessness is also a rare sight in Cuba.  Despite economic constraints there seems to remain a social commitment that all Cubans have access to housing and food, if only at a basic level.   This cannot be said for many western societies even with social support programs.

The insight from Cuba is that accessibility is the combination of social systems and the built environment.  Individuals, communities, and government services play at least an equal role to increasing accessibility alongside changes to the way we design our communities.