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The Access City Award is a prize for a city that made it easy for people with disabilities to move around.The European Union gives this award each year.This year the prize went to the city of Gothenburg in Sweden. |
The European Commission announced Gothenburg as the winner of 2014 Access City Award during the European Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December. This award marks the engagement of municipality of Gothenburg to make transport, housing and employment conditions more accessible for people with disabilities and older people.
Under a motto “A city for everyone”, Gothenburg systematically ameliorated its public transport structure and reconstructed public places such as parks or universities to be more accessible. In housing area, when a property is reconstructed to be accessible, priority for lodging is given to people with disabilities. Each year 300 job positions are supported by equipment or assistance to be reachable also for people with disabilities.
The Vice-President of the European Commission Viviane Reding congratulated the representatives of Gothenburg. “For this year’s winner, its motto ‘a city for all’ is not just words. It expresses the determination to integrate persons with disabilities into society. People with disabilities still face too many obstacles in daily life, but cities like Gothenburg show the way forward to meet their needs,“ she said.
The city of Grenoble in France and Poznan in Poland – the first and second runner-ups – were also commended on their efforts to improve the accessibility of transport, education, housing, tourism, culture and sports. Access City Award is given out by the European Commission every year to cities with more 50 000 inhabitants for their efforts to improve the access of citizens with disabilities to all areas of daily life.
