A Neurodivergent-Centered Framework for Evaluating Inclusive Urban Parks: An Exploratory Application in Bangkok

Urban-park accessibility is commonly assessed through physical access, leaving cognitive legibility, controlled retreat, and sensory organization comparatively underexamined. This gap limits spatial evaluation because an audit may record an accessible entrance or amenity without showing whether route structure, refuge options, and sensory transitions support self-directed use. This study developed and exploratorily applied a preliminary Neurodivergent-Centered Design (NCD) framework in three contrasting Bangkok parks. Here, neurodivergent-centered denotes the cognitive, sensory, and emotional-access needs prioritized by the framework; it does not imply participatory co-design or validation. A targeted interdisciplinary review informed three dimensions: cognitive clarity and visual logic, emotional safety and retreat, and sensory zoning and regulation. Repeated structured observations, transect walks, photography, mapping, and contextual records were synthesized into park-by-dimension ordinal judgments through independent review and consensus. Route legibility varied with spatial configuration, while distributed retreat, buffered activity adjacencies, and legible sensory transitions were recurrent gaps. The framework contributes an indicator-based spatial audit that connects wayfinding, environmental affordances, and design-retrofit decisions while separating environmental provision from unmeasured user outcomes. It is a proof-of-concept structure, not a validated instrument. Participatory validation, reliability testing, and application across parks, seasons, and urban contexts remain necessary.