Social Structures
Symposium
Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute , Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)
Friday December 3rd 2021 will witness the announcement of the winning contending cities for the 12th ‘EU Access City Awards Ceremony’ (Access City Award 2022).
The website of the European Commission (EC) says that the ‘Access City Award recognises and celebrates a city’s willingness, ability and efforts to become more accessible, in order to:
- Guarantee equal access to fundamental rights;
- Improve the quality of life of its population and ensure that everybody – regardless of age, mobility or ability – has equal access to all the resources and pleasures cities have to offer’.
The United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs says that ‘Persons living with disabilities are often the poorest and most vulnerable in cities today’. Cities in the twenty-first century are experiencing rapid growth, as populations shift from rural dwellings to urban areas in search of employment and greater economic prosperity. However, increased costs of living alongside inaccessible urban planning, transport infrastructure and urban architecture, render most cities inaccessible and inundated with hazards for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, cities around the world are experiencing rapid gentrification and rising costs of living, thereby increasing the socio-economic disadvantages that are often experienced by persons with disabilities as a vulnerable demographic.
Continue reading “December 3rd, UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities – Celebrating the ‘12th European Union (EU) Access City Awards Ceremony’ for Human-Centred Urban Living and Ending ‘Disabling Cities’”