Kakoli SAHA, School of Planning and architecture, bhopal, India
Rajrani KALRA, School of Planning and architecture, bhopal, India
Rachna KHARE, School of Planning and architecture, bhopal, India
Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad) is one of the oldest cities of India and finds its mention in ancient scriptures including Ramayana and Mahabharata. Prayagraj is known for its rich heritage and spiritual tourism. It is one of the four places that holds Kumbh mela -the largest religious mass gathering in the world. The Triveni Sangam or the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and mythological Saraswathi is the centre of religious activities throughout the year. As a result, Prayagraj attracts large number of both domestic and international tourists every year. Considering the importance of the city from the aspect of religious tourism, this paper aims to address the issue of improving the universal accessibility status of Prayagraj city in the context of the mobility of a religious tourist with disability. Since mobility is the key aspect, universal accessibility audit was performed along the roads of Prayagraj city. Road network of the city was digitized in GIS platform and was categorized into 1. City entry points, 2. City entry to accommodation points, and 3. Accommodation points to tourist spots. Sample roads were selected from each category and accessibility information was collected using universal access audit checklists. The checklists were of two types A. City entry point covering category 1 road stretches and 2. Public realm covering category 2 & 3 road stretches mentioned above. The checklists include indicators containing multiple parameters to measure accessibility of built environment along the road stretches. Accessibility information is integrated with road network using GIS tools and subsequent spatial analysis was performed. The result of analysis indicates that accessibility of the main tourist spot of the city i.e. Triveni Sangam needs to be improved since it is falling within the zone of low accessibility.
Mots clés : religious tourism|universal accessiility|GIS|Prayagraj city
A102784KS