Alessandro Bruni, Iginio Rossi, INU – URBIT


INU, National Institute of Urban Planning, URBIT, Italian Urban Planning, and the Chamber of Commerce of Genoa, which provides the prize money of € 5,000, with the collaboration of MIC, CNR and Cerpa Italia Onlus have established the “Accessible Cities for All Award” for innovative master’s theses and research and studies developed in Italy and abroad on issues of accessibility at 360° carried out between 1.04.2020 and 30.09.2021.

The focus of the call is on urban areas (historical centres, suburbs, public spaces, buildings) and on the wider area (cities, rural areas, territories). Consideration is given to the limitations imposed on people’s vitality and, reciprocally, on their quality of life, which are produced by physical, sensory, perceptive, intellectual, gender, but also cultural, social and economic barriers.

The focus on the two contexts is motivated by the conviction that the vitality of public spaces and places is an essential feature of social accessibility/inclusion, but also an urgent need for the necessary rethinking imposed by the consequences of the pandemic. The health emergency has severely challenged their vitality, leading to major crises with frequently dramatic socio-economic and health implications.

The conditions of difficulty ‘experienced’ by the accessibility of places characterised by the presence of so-called ‘mixed activities’ (commerce, crafts, restaurants, culture, entertainment, leisure, etc.) are well known. They have caused a decay in relations and attractiveness to the point of challenging the traditional roles of cities and areas, including their accessibility.
The prize-giving ceremony is also an opportunity to question the prospects that policies and strategies concerning all-round accessibility and social inclusion can help achieve the increase in vitality so necessary for urban regeneration.


PROGRAMME

Motivations and expectations:
Iginio Rossi, Città accessibili a tutti gli (Accessible Cities for All) Coordinator, INU-URBIT

Award ceremony for the 2021 competition and presentation of prizes

The contribution of all-round accessibility and social inclusion to urban vitality
Round table

Conducted by:
Alessandro Bruni, Città accessibili a tutti gli (Accessible Cities for All) Coordinator, INU-URBIT

Participants:
Giordana Castelli, CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Research Council)
Maurizio Caviglia, Camera di Commercio di Genova (Genoa Chamber of Commerce)
Gabriella Cetorelli, MIC, Ministry of Culture, General Management of Museums
Giampiero Griffo, Member of the World Council Disabled People’s International and Coordinator of the Technical and Scientific Committee of the National Observatory on the Condition of Disabled People
Piera Nobili, CERPA Italia Onlus
Roberto Vitali, CEO & Co-Founder Village for all V4A Network Ospitalità Accessibile

Contributions