Japanese city reinvents itself as model city for disabled people

From The Bangkok Post:

The Japanese city of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture, which has reinvented itself as a model city for people with disabilities, was the venue of a recent conference designed to showcase how Asia-Pacific cities can promote tourism, mobility and employment for a rapidly growing part of the world's population.

The event from Nov 24-26 was organised by the city and the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap). It drew about 200 government officials, technical experts, academics, advocates and professionals on disability, accessibility, tourism, urban planning and rural development from 15 countries.

Promoted by Escap for years, the concept of "accessible tourism" refers to tourism that caters to the needs of a full range of consumers including people with disabilities, older persons and cross-generational families. It entails "removal of attitudinal and institutional barriers in society, and encompasses accessibility in the physical environment, in transport, information and communications and other facilities and services, at both publicly and privately owned tourist locations"

The Takayama Congress aimed to explore the creation and sustainable development of inclusive and accessible communities, by learning from the experiences of Takayama and other communities in the region.

Despite a history dating 1,600 years and a reputation for preserving traditional architecture and arts, Takayama City suffered from a dearth of tourists and income in the 1990s.

In 1996 it embarked on a redevelopment based on the slogan, "A Town Easy To Live In Is A Town Easy To Visit". Since then, says Escap, "the city has conducted barrier-free monitoring tours and improved its accessibility in many respects, both in the public and private sector, responding to the needs of its ageing population and citizens with disabilities.

"It is now recognised both nationally and internationally as a leading barrier-free city, attracting visitors from around the world and enjoying the economic impact of an increasing number of visitors."

Congress presentations focused on the basics of accessibility; effectiveness of hospitality training; entrepreneurship development and support for employment for persons with disabilities; and "universal design" in practice for the hotel industry and taxis.

In the Takayama city centre, visitors saw accessible restrooms and a street designed for accessibility with signs in four languages. At the municipal recycling centre and welfare facility, they saw how jobs were being created for disabled people, and their work facilities.

The Gifu Prefectural Research Institute for Human Life Technology demonstrated a project promoting the manufacture of people-friendly products, "based on ergonomics, to promote improved relationships between people, products and living environments".

Participants also had opportunities to meet local residents whose awareness of and respect for the needs of the disabled have contributed to the success of making Takayama a barrier-free community.

Takayama Mayor Mamoru Tsuchino, who pioneered many these initiatives, spoke at the conference which ended with a declaration laying out 20 recommendations on regional networking, advocacy, policy development, research and data collection, capacity building and resource mobilisation on improving accessibility.

An Escap release quoted an adviser to the mayor of Pattaya as being particularly impressed with Takayama's accessible roads and pedestrian walkways, and the clean, litter-free environment. "This is a kind of city that our Pattaya City would dream of becoming," he was quoted as saying.

Representatives from SM Malls, owner of the largest shopping centre in the Philippines, expressed an interest to host a regional conference on accessibility and private sector involvement in 2010.

According to Escap, regional countries need to make a paradigm shift away from a welfare-oriented approach to a human rights-based approach to disability.

A worldwide Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took effect in May 2008, recognising the right of accessibility for the first time. However, many Asia-Pacific countries still lack appropriate laws and technical regulations on accessibility. Moreover, according to Escap, policymakers and officials are not motivated to improve accessibility, citing budgetary implications.

However, the event also exemplified how a lot of the positive work being done by Escap is muted by poor quality information availability. The congress went unmentioned in Escap's monthly bulletin for November which deprived it of any advance publicity.