Getting Around Leigh: Social Research with Older and Disabled People

As part of an ongoing partnership with TfGM, we are researching the relationship between neighbourhood planning and active travel. Do the ways in which we design spaces and places impact how people get around and shape their social lives? For this piece of work, completed in 2023, we worked closely with older and disabled residents in Leigh, a town in the Greater Manchester borough of Wigan. Following a set of drop-in workshops in Leigh library, we conducted walkalong interviews. These interviews were a chance for residents to show researchers where they walk, to comment on aspects of the neighbourhood that they like or dislike, and to make suggestions with regard to what could be improved. The research generated a picture of the challenges that older and disabled people face getting around their local area. Not only did it provide insights into how to make places walkable, it highlighted the ways in which walkability is related to social infrastructure. 

For more information and the project reports, please see the project page.

 
External partner: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) 

Funder

TfGM

University of Salford 

Team

Graeme Sherriff (Lead)

Ian Cookson