As over 100 million people in the European Union live with a disability, cities play a critical role in ensuring accessible and inclusive environments.
But accessibility goes beyond removing physical barriers—it’s about creating inclusive environments where everyone, regardless of their abilities, can participate fully in society. This includes adapting urban spaces, digital services, transport systems and public events to accommodate diverse needs, whether they relate to physical, sensory or intellectual disabilities.
In Vienna, they understand this. By embedding inclusivity into its urban planning and services, the Austrian capital has become a leader in creating a city that works for everyone.
According to Sofia Martinsson, working for the Vienna Social Fund, within the Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities, a fund by the Vienna municipality, accessibility involves addressing the different dimensions of barriers that people face.
It’s not just about the built environment but also about communication, which means ensuring that information is clear, accessible and inclusive. It also focuses on institutional accessibility, which involves enhancing public services and systems that actively enhance accessibility and inclusion for everyone.
This comprehensive approach earned Vienna the prestigious 2025 Access City Award, a recognition of its ongoing efforts to improve the lives of persons with disabilities.
Vienna: A model for accessibility and inclusion
Jutta Rozinski is a Project Manager at the Vienna Social Fund, where she has been working since 2019, focusing on empowering persons with disabilities and promoting inclusion.
Her first major task was organising the election of the Vienna Social Fund Client Council, a body composed of 14 self-representatives elected by approximately 9,000 clients of Vienna’s disability services. The council serves as an important platform for persons with disabilities to voice their needs and contribute to decisions impacting them.
Following this, Rozinski took on a central role in the Inclusive Vienna 2030 initiative – a city-wide strategy aimed at improving accessibility and fostering inclusion – ensuring that persons with disabilities were actively involved in shaping it.
The Inclusive Vienna 2030 strategy outlines measures that extend beyond physical accessibility to encompass housing, employment and recreation. The strategy involves projects that ensure accessible swimming pools, intelligent traffic lights and a shift toward supported housing, where individuals with disabilities can live independently with tailored support in their own homes.
Sofia Martinsson gives the example of deinstitutionalisation in Vienna, where people with disabilities are supported to live in small, private flats under a rental contract, rather than in large, institutionalised settings. This approach ensures they have privacy and autonomy while receiving the necessary support.
“The Inclusive Vienna 2030 strategy was developed through a fully participatory process,” explains Martinsson. They brought together people with disabilities, experts, city officials and organisations to gather ideas in twelve different fields and co-design solutions.
They sent a tool called a ’participation kit’ to over 300 sheltered workshops and supported housing facilities for persons with disabilities, receiving 200 answers—a 60% return rate. The answers were incorporated in the working groups and other meetings that led to the strategy – goals and measures. “Their voices shaped every measure we’ve implemented,” Martinsson states.
After two years and many different meeting settings, 400 people have worked together to find solutions together. This makes Vienna unique. “When I did research in designing this process, I didn’t find any other initiative which was that participatory,” explains Rozinski.
The city also welcomes the participation of self-advocates. “We have individuals with intellectual disabilities who are not spotted in housing or employment initiatives,” Martinsson explains. Around 5000 of them vote for the so-called self-advocates to voice their needs and rights. Martinsson works with them to organise initiatives like Self Advocate Day, a collaborative conference planned and run together with persons with disabilities.
The significance of the Access City Award
Winning the Access City Award is a milestone for Vienna and a testament to the city’s leadership in accessibility. Presented at the 2024 European Day of Persons with Disabilities conference by EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, Vienna is the second Austrian city to receive this honour, following Salzburg in 2012.
The Commissioner highlighted Vienna’s efforts to make accessible public transport. All metro stations and over 95% of bus and tram stops are accessible, incorporating tactile guidance systems, low-floor vehicles, and multisensory emergency systems. The city has also embraced technological solutions, such as a sign language avatar that assists public transport users.
“We’ve worked hard to make transportation accessible,” says Rozinski. “It’s not just about meeting basic requirements—it’s about using new technologies, like the sign language avatar, to enhance independence for everyone.” The avatar indicates alternative routes in case of a non-functioning transportation or an emergency.
The award not only recognises Vienna’s achievements but also encourages greater cross-sector collaboration. As part of Eurocities, the Austrian capital has been leading the Informal Group on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities since 2023. The group serves as a conduit for knowledge exchange between over 20 Eurocities member cities.
“We are very proud of the work done in the Informal Group,” says Arianna Americo, Eurocities Project and Forum Coordinator. “Under the leadership of Vienna, we have been offering our members a space to confront each other and share notes on the ways they are working day-to-day to create more inclusive cities and societies for persons with disabilities. We are working together to raise awareness in city administrations on ways to address this topic with a holistic approach.”
“For us, the award is both recognition and motivation,” says Rozinski. “It raises awareness about accessibility and inclusion, not only within our city departments but across the public. It’s a chance to celebrate what we’ve achieved and reflect on what more we can do.”
As Martinsson notes, “Inclusion isn’t just a social affairs issue—it’s a cross-cutting priority. The award shows how cities can work across departments to ensure accessibility touches every aspect of urban life.”
About the Access City Award
The Access City Award has been celebrating cities that prioritise accessibility since 2010. As part of the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, the award underscores the importance of creating a Europe without barriers. Accessible public spaces, transport and digital services are vital for enabling persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in society.
This year’s award was highly competitive, with 57 cities applying—the highest number in a decade. Four finalists were selected by an EU jury after a rigorous national selection process.
With the Access City Award as a beacon of inspiration, cities across Europe have a clear path forward to building a more equitable future.
