Non-Visual City: An Audio Guide to Downtown São Paulo is an auditory and acoustic project essay exploring urban relationships and their events. Centered on how visually impaired people perceive the city, the proposal seeks to challenge and engage with their urban experiences to enhance their right to the city, autonomy, and citizenship. The spatial focus of this case study is the area where the open streets project for pedestrians was implemented in São Paulo's Centro Novo (República district).
When we think of accessible cities, we think of cities that do not hinder walking and movement for people with disabilities. These are cities that are pleasant, inviting, and less oppressive—places that, above all, guarantee equal access to the resources and infrastructure they have to offer.
According to the 2010 demographic census by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), around 36 million Brazilians have some form of visual impairment. This means roughly 17% of Brazil's population experiences some degree of vision loss, ranging from mild levels requiring glasses or contact lenses to total blindness.
