Towards a built environment without physical barriers: An accessibility assessment procedure and action protocol for social housing occupied by the elderly Serrano-Jiménez, Antonio Blandón-González, Begoña Barrios Padura, Ángela Accessibility assessment Ageing population Built environment This work was supported through funds, materials, and measuring equipment as part of the “Reprograma” research project (2034/0068), within the ERDF funds and regulations for the Andalusian region 2014-2020. This research was also made possible thanks to the financial support of the Andalusian Government (Junta de Andalucía - Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia) through a postdoctoral contract DOC-00950 granted to Antonio Serrano-Jiménez. Finally, the authors acknowledge support from the Institute of Architecture and Building Science (IUACC) from the University of Seville (IUACC grants, mode A: Publications, 2021) and the English proofreading by Lesley Burridge. Current policies on urban regeneration and population ageing call for new assessment models that address the obsolescence of social housing in the built environment, thereby promoting efficient and sustainable renovation strategies. The elderly represent more than 20% of the total population in European countries, for whom mobility and accessibility limitations remain key aspects to be solved. This research establishes an accessibility assessment model for social housing, conceived as a decision support system that contributes towards the diagnosis of the main risks and the selection of optimal actions for the adaptation of multi-family buildings. This system also provides a specific technical inspection tool to verify the fulfilment of accessibility regulations. The novelty of the proposed model involves weighting mechanisms for the quantification of action suitability through 3 main indices: Appropriateness, Priority, and Feasibility. These indices are quantitatively and qualitatively valued from technical and socio-economic perspectives. The operation is applied and tested in representative multi-family buildings from southern Europe, which attains 90% of non-compliances and risks, and displays an innovative decision-making outline for owners, promoters, and policy-makers. The conclusions drawn include key outcomes for technicians and users, by providing mechanisms that promote efficient renovation proposals regarding accessibility in social housing. 2026-02-06T09:51:01Z 2026-02-06T09:51:01Z 2022-01-01 journal article Published version: A. Serrano-Jiménez et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 76 (2022) 103456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103456 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/110703 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103456 eng open access Elsevier