Moving in cities that corner: people with disabilities facing the ableist urbanism of Mexico City

Abstract

This article presents the experiences of disabled people in México City in front to as ableist urbanism. The cities have designed and created for the able-bodied, namely, people who are “strong”, “intelligent”, “whole”, “healthy” and able to move on two legs. Ableist urbanism excludes diverse bodies and overlooks the differences in movement, pace, speed of disabled persons who also use cities. We present a case study with information collected through mobile interviews and participant observation of the mobilities. The analysis was carried out using Crip Theory and references from critical disability studies. Among the findings is that ableist urbanism affects to diversity of bodies, including those of people with disabilities, but also many other populations. This is evidence that cities benefit the livability of certain groups based on their class and gender.