fotografixx
What makes a city truly accessible? It goes well beyond wheelchair ramps. For travelers with disabilities, the best destinations combine step-free public transportation, curb cuts and navigable sidewalks, accessible hotels and attractions, adapted toilets and taxis, and clear information for visitors with visual, hearing or cognitive disabilities. Those are broadly the same categories used by the European Commission in evaluating accessible cities: the built environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and accessible information and communication.
Geography makes a noticeable difference. Europe probably has the greatest concentration of highly accessible tourism cities, helped by strong accessibility standards, extensive public transportation and decades of retrofitting older urban environments. The EU alone has recognized 77 cities for accessibility since launching its "Access City Award" in 2010. North America, Australia, Japan and Singapore also offer some excellent choices,
Latin America is more uneven (with perhaps the notable exception of Buenos Aires—more about that below), and Africa remains a lot more challenging overall. Research has found widespread shortcomings in universally accessible transportation, infrastructure and implementation of disability policies across African countries. South Africa is an important partial exception—it´s one of the continent's leaders in inclusive transport planning—and Cape Town has accessible MyCiTi buses and wheelchair-friendly major attractions including the V&A Waterfront and parts of Table Mountain and Kirstenbosch. But even there, accessibility is not as seamless citywide as in the these seven:
Replies