At the start of December, a campaign was launched that is set to have an historic impact on how cities approach disability access. Launched at an event in Berlin, the Global Compact on Inclusive and Accessible Cities is set to drive dramatic improvements in the accessibility of urban areas.
Launched by 130 organisations, including global disability rights non-profit World Enabled, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat and the Disability Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development Network, the Compact will see a host of cities around the world commit to making their cities accessible for all citizens, regardless of physical or mental disability.
The initiative has attracted backing from Microsoft, Accenture and Mastercard, as has already seen 12 cities of a variety of sizes commit to improvements.
“We have some big ones, but we're also noticing that smaller cities want to be part of the story,” explains Dr Victor Pineda, president of World Enabled and Senior Research Fellow and visiting scholar at the Hass Institute, University of California, Berkeley.
A leading disability advocate and urban planning expert who was appointed to the US Access Board by US President Barack Obama, Pineda is passionate about the importance of accessibility, and taking a practical approach to driving change in city planning.
“As a child I was discriminated against. I had difficulty walking, and when my mother went to take me to school, she was told that I wouldn't be able to go to school, because she was told that it's better to keep me at home so I wouldn't be teased, and that I would never work or do much or amount to much, because I couldn't walk,“ he says.
“So all of this is a very personal commitment to change that narrative, but it's also a very practical approach to supporting cities in their efforts.
“Nobody sets out to build a city that isn't accessible. It's just that they oftentimes don't know how, and people don't know what they don't know.”