The Rick Hansen Foundation didn’t have to look far to find one of its three winners of its inaugural Accessible Cities Award.
Richmond, along with Winnipeg and Edmonton, were honoured by the foundation for leading in promoting universal access for people with disabilities.
The Richmond-based foundation said the City of Richmond has a holistic and dedicated approach to access.
“Since the 1980s, it has adopted policies to improve accessibility, and today, access and inclusion are themes embedded throughout City planning documents, which emphasize the need for accessible and inclusive neighbourhoods to facilitate aging in place, improve access to services and respond to community members of all abilities,” noted the foundation, via a news release.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie said as much, noting planners incorporate accessibility features in their urban designs.
For instance, ensuring new sidewalks have wheelchair ramps, street corners have markings for visually impaired people and crosswalks have acoustic signals are among the many examples of features the city works on implementing in its public spaces.
Notably, the Richmond Olympic Oval was recognized as one of five spots in Canada where universal access is best practiced.
“These cities are demonstrating leadership and determination in creating greater accessibility in our built environments. Congratulations to Winnipeg, Richmond, and Edmonton for their successes in pursuing best practices by expanding universal access and for inspiring others to do the same,” said Hansen, a Richmond resident and foundation CEO.
Hansen is known as the Man in Motion, for his global tour in a wheelchair for spinal cord research in 1985.
