Students from several different schools of architecture took part in the Accessible Commerce Without Barriers (CASBA) project. The aim of this initiative is to promote accessibility by suggesting improvements to districts based on an analysis of their public areas, facilities and shops.

The project’s closing event took place on Thursday 25 January at the Vil·la Urània Community Centre. The event served as a platform for unveiling the new Code of Accessibility, presented by Enrique Rovira-Beleta, a lecturer in the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. The students also presented their proposals for improving accessibility within the framework of the project. 

During the event, UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturer Enrique Rovira-Beleta presented the new Code of Accessibility, a document that proposes qualitative and quantitative improvements aimed at setting Catalonia on the path toward accessibility. According to lecturer Rovira-Beleta, “This code was developed on the basis of a new quality certificate for establishments, spaces and experiences that are accessible to all.” 

During the presentation, the project participants detailed their proposals for improving the accessibility of the locations there were assigned. Their projects identified new means of improving accessibility in the streets adjacent to the analysed sites. The students from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture who took part were: Mireia Abadías, Alexia Espinas, Otari Khvistani, Julia Salman, Anna Casanova and Pedro Cantarellas. 

Also present at the event were representatives of municipal authorities and councillors from the districts of Nou Barris, Ciutat Vella and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, along with the heads of the Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities, individuals who advised and worked with the students during their visits to the commercial establishments analysed as part of the project. 

This is the seventh consecutive year that the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture has been involved in the CASBA project. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness about accessibility.