On 11 February third-year students from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture presented their proposals to improve accessibility for commercial premises in the Eixample and Ciutat Vella districts of Barcelona and municipal facilities such as Barcelona Nord Bus Station and the Multi-Purpose Sports Hall attached to it. This initiative is part of a project called “Comerç Accesible Sense Barreres” (CASBA), set up by the Municipal Institute of People with Disabilities (IMPD) in Barcelona City Council with the aim of improving the accessibility of the city’s neighbourhoods and public roads. It is the fourth consecutive year UIC Barcelona School of Barcelona has participated in the project, led by the Director of the Accessibility Area, Enrique Rovira-Beleta. 

In conjunction with the associations of tradespeople and associations of people with disabilities from the Eixample and Ciutat Vella districts, the students analysed the current state of the commercial premises and municipal facilities and worked on design proposals. The proposals were based on criteria of efficiency and sustainability, to improve accessibility in line with current regulations.  “The fact that people with disabilities participated in the initiative, during the theoretical classes and the visits to the premises, allowed the students to discover the diversity that exists in the population. This will undoubtedly allow them to apply accessibility criteria in a standardised way in their future career as architects to all their projects,” Rovira-Beleta pointed out. 

Since 2013, the CASBA project has contributed to the improvement of accessibility in various districts of Barcelona, such as the Zona Franca, Creu Coberta, Vallespir, Horta-Guinardó, Sant Andreu and Ciutat Vella.