Hierarchical Environmental Semantic Reconstruction for Stable Mobility of Visually Impaired Pedestrians on Urban Streets in Shanghai

Urban street accessibility for visually impaired individuals has traditionally been evaluated through the lens of barrier-free infrastructure. However, this study demonstrates that mobility stability is determined not merely by the physical presence of facilities, but by the extent to which environmental cues are coherently perceived, interpreted, and translated into action. Using Shanghai as a case study, we analyzed 309 questionnaire responses to examine how environmental barriers and psychological factors jointly shape travel intention. A random forest model achieved 78% classification accuracy in predicting travel avoidance behavior, identifying psychological anxiety and tactile paving obstruction as the most significant predictors. The findings suggest that disruptions in the built environment influence mobility primarily through the psychological mediation of environmental uncertainty. Furthermore, k-means clustering identified four distinct mobility profiles, designated as: Stable Traditional Users, Vulnerable Environment-Dependent Users, Technology-Assisted but Environmentally Sensitive Users, and Technology-Empowered Low-Anxiety Users. These groups exhibit significant variances in perceived environmental barriers, psychological anxiety, and assistive technology adoption. This study establishes a hierarchical framework linking environmental signals, perception, and behavior. The results reveal that mobility stability emerges through differentiated "interruption-compensation" pathways, advocating for a paradigm shift in accessibility governance from basic facility provision toward semantic reliability and digital-physical synchronization.