The 2020 Access City Award goes to the city of Warsaw, in Poland. By involving people with disabilities and accessibility needs in its endeavour to make the city more accessible, Warsaw was able to make a substantial overall improvement to the city's ease of access in a short space of time.

The European Commission received 47 applications for the 2020 edition. The city of Castellóde la Plana in Spain and the city of Skellefteå in Sweden are the second and third place winners.

Chania in Greece, Tartu in Estonia and Evreux in France all received a special mention. Chania was recognised for its use of technology to provide accessible parking, Tartu for its grassroots approach to accessibility and finally Evreux for its work on hidden disabilities.

Background

The Access City Award, organised by the European Commission together with the European Disability Forum, is one of the actions of the EU Disability Strategy 2010-2020.

The award was launched in 2010 to raise awareness of the challenges faced by disabled persons, and to promote accessibility initiatives in European cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants.

The award is given to the city that has demonstrably improved accessibility in fundamental aspects of city living, and that has concrete plans for further improvements.