Challenges

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City of Amsterdam

 

Background
For 40% of the citizens of Amsterdam public spaces and shopping areas in the city centre in particular are often difficult to access. Some of these people have difficulty walking, get about with a mobility scooter or children’s buggy. There are often obstacles on the pavement: shop displays, bicycles, Canta vehicles, etc. In addition, the entrances to shops are often over 2 cm higher than the pavement, which means that someone in a wheelchair cannot enter unless special threshold ramps are present. However, in many shopping areas, shopkeepers do not always use these threshold ramps consistently, even though they have them.

The Netherlands is obliged by a recently ratified UN Convention to improve the accessibility of public spaces and places. It is the task of municipalities to implement this. The City Council has adopted a Motion to conduct a pilot in one or two shopping areas (in the centre and/or Amsterdam Pijp district) and, together with businesspeople, stakeholders, and users, to develop measures that can improve the accessibility of these and other shopping areas.

 

The challenge
Find an innovative solution to improve the accessibility of shops in Amsterdam’s shopping areas and public spaces (city centre/de Pijp).

 

Criteria

  • It is essential that the solution is sustainable, supported by entrepreneurs and users of public spaces, and that it will continue to work in the long term. Users, entrepreneurs and stakeholder organisations will be involved in the pilot;
  • The pilot should assess the effectiveness of past measures (such as the threshold ramps);
  • The solution must comply with the UN Convention, as ratified by the Netherlands, to improve the accessibility of public spaces and places.

Issued by: RVE Economie en Stadsdeel Zuid