Near East University Disability Rights Monitoring Committee (EHIK) held an agenda meeting on Barrier-Free Design and shared its studies with the public.

According to the information provided by the Near East University Directorate of Press and Public Relations, EHIK member of the board of directors and lecturer of the Faculty of Architecture Ümran Duman provided information on the topic of unobstructed design, and emphasized that everyone has equal rights in this society in using the open, semi-open, and closed public areas and priority should be given to the disabled individuals. Umran Duman stated that it is possible to integrate disabled people with society by designing public areas in consideration with the needs of all the users with different physical characteristics and/or different disabilities.

Architect Ümran Duman; "Designers who attempt to incorporate people with disabilities into the public areas and services must use the laws and standards that are set for use in designs for people with disabilities in order to ensure their access and mobility into the public areas and services. These laws and standards are included in the laws of Northern Cyprus, which is a developing country. ”

Law on Buildings and Roads was Adopted in 1946...
Ümran Duman Underlining that the law on smoke, buildings, and roads was adopted in 1946 before the establishment of the state and are still valid, pointed out that the so-called law on the regulation of roads and buildings was consolidated by the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects in 2012 and that a regulation was added to Chapter 96, which was published in the Official Gazette on 29 November 2016, and approved by the Council of Ministers under Article 19, and that the added article included making the outdoor and indoor access standards suitable for the disabled.

Design should be made so that everyone and disabled can use the spaces equally...
Duman emphasized that it is important to provide some opportunities in public space designs in order to ensure that the disabled individuals can use the spaces equally like everyone in Northern Cyprus, and listed the following requirements as follows: Accessing the site in different ways must be considered in the urban design and the user must be allowed to have access to the public services. It should be ensured that public transportation vehicles are close to the stops or that there are parking spaces to allow different types of users to park their vehicles. It is recommended to use staircase and ramp designs together so that the entrance and exit spaces are suitable for everyone to use equally. In order to provide circulation in the space, the building elements used in circulation such as corridors, entrance doors to the units within the area, stairs, elevators and ramps should be suitable for everyone's use. Reinforcement elements (seating furniture, tables, counters, etc.), which differ according to their function, should be suitable for the approach and use of everyone. It should not be forgotten that users who have lost their ability to see are among the users of the design. Considering that there are hearing impaired users, users should have visual warnings and information. ”