“There’s nothing wrong with you”: The making of disability through encounters in accessible parking spaces

This paper explores what constitutes an ‘accessible’ space by examining encounters in accessible parking spaces during which disabled people are accused of ‘faking’ by strangers. Parking and encounters are both quintessential urban phenomena, yet there is little research on how interpersonal interactions shape disabled people’s experiences of accessible spaces. Focussing on Blue Badge parking in England, I situate my analysis in the context of negative public attitudes towards disabled people, after over a decade of stigmatisation under austerity politics. I draw on a survey of 304 Blue Badge holders, presenting both quantitative and qualitative data. I analyse how ‘faking’ encounters differ for disabled people by demographics and impairments, the factors participants feel contribute to encounters, and the encounters’ impact. I then discuss how encounters contribute to everyday discrimination for disabled people and consider how (in)visibility and incongruence shape whether a space is ‘accessible’ in practice.