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 we are working 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 are 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 has generated a picture of the challenges that older and disabled people face getting around their local area. Not only has it provided insights into how to make places walkable, it has highlighted the ways in which walkability is related to social infrastructure.
External partner: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)
Funder: TfGM and University of Salford
Team: Graeme Sherriff (Lead), Ian Cookson