(03 December 2014) – On the occasion of the European Day for People with Disabilities, the European Commission has announced that the Swedish city of Borås is the winner of the 2015 Access City Award.
The Award recognises Borås‘s comprehensive and strategic approach to creating an accessible city for all; a good example of local action to help removing the many barriers that people with disabilities still face in their daily life.
The Award is organised by the Commission together with the European Disability Forum. It aims to encourage cities with at least 50,000 inhabitants to share their experience and to improve accessibility for the benefit of all. Since 2010, 189 EU cities have participated in the 5 editions of the Access City Award.
This year, Helsinki (Finland) took the second prize. The third prize was awarded to Ljubljana (Slovenia).
The European Commission awards special mentions to cities that are pioneers in achieving accessibility in terms of built environment, transport, information and communication technology and public facilities and services. This year, the special mentions are given to:
- Logroño, Spain, was awarded a special mention in the field of the built environment and public spaces,
- Budapest, Hungary, received a special mention for its work in the field of transportation.
- Arona, Spain, and Luxembourg got a special mention for public facilities and services.