Zhejiang makes easy access for all a priority

According to Zhuo, by the end of 2020, the city helped install accessibility facilities in 3,585 households with family members who are physically challenged, and this year, another 770 households will get the support they need.

Jiaxing has attached great importance to this field as part of its efforts to achieve common prosperity and react to a growing elderly population. Some other middle-sized cities in Zhejiang, like Lishui and Quzhou, also launched similar guidance earlier this year.

Particularly, Songyang county of Lishui, one that rose to fame for its scenic mountains, stunning views and rural architecture design programs, has also created such guidelines to be applied to scenic areas in the countryside.

At the same conference featuring barrier-free environment construction where Jiaxing's guidelines were launched, Xue Feng, chief architect of Beijing-based China Construction Engineering Design and Research Institute Corp, introduced a case study of a renovation their team has carried out at a pedestrian zone in Hangzhou in the most prosperous business district by the West Lake.

The whole renovation was completed in 2019 and the part Xue's team took charge of included making the outdoor spaces more suitable for pedestrians, redesigning and assembling paving tiles, setting down more seats under trees and arcades beside the pedestrian paths, optimizing ramp way routes to facilitate access for wheelchair users and inserting smart equipment for emergency calls and charging devices, among others.

Promoting legislation, improving certification systems and cooperating with public interest litigation are key actions required to ensure the harmonious construction of a barrier-free environment, according to Lyu Shiming, vice-chairman of the China Federation of the Disabled in Beijing.