By Lica de Souza
In 2010, the “Access City” award was created, organized by the European Commission in conjunction with the European Disability Forum. The award aims to increase awareness of disability, ensure equal access to citizens, and promote accessibility initiatives in European cities with a population of over 50,000. The winner of 2021 was the city of Jönköping, in southern Sweden, for the introduction of continuous improvements in new and old areas of the city, in collaboration with organizations of people with disabilities.
In Brazil, the city recognized for having the best level of accessibility is Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais. With just over 600 thousand inhabitants, the city has access ramps in the main streets of the center and neighborhoods, 100% of the city buses have elevators, a tactile floor to guide the visually impaired are on most of the sidewalks, bus terminals and shops and public buildings. Each new construction project is only approved if it has an accessibility plan that makes life easier for people with disabilities or reduced mobility, whether for a street, building or subdivision.
Perhaps this is one of the factors that led Uberlândia to be considered one of the 20 best cities to live in Brazil. With a public policy aimed at improving the quality of life of the entire population and strong investments in health, education, infrastructure, social development and sanitation, with 100% of households served with treated water.
These factors can be confirmed by the city’s high GDH – Gross Domestic Happiness, a concept created in Bhutan in 1972 and adopted by the UN in 2012, reaches an incredible 97% of the population in some neighborhoods of Uberlândia. Among the questions that are analyzed by the GDH are: human wellbeing, good use of nature’s resources, family care and the use of time in a balanced way.
And, with no doubt, the accessibility of the city contributes to the increase of this index.
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