The Barrier-Free City Kocaeli Project, which took place in 2021 and 2022 and lasted 14 months, was carried out under the leadership of ŞURA Urban Policies and Research Center established within Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, in cooperation with Kocaeli Governorship, universities, chambers of industry and commerce, Eastern Marmara Development Agency and Kocaeli City Council. One of the faculty members of our university, Prof. Hamza ATEŞ also took part in the execution of the project.
In the project, which was carried out in four steps, in the first stage, a comprehensive inventory was created by compiling the efforts made in Turkey and the world to rehabilitate disabled people and make cities barrier-free. In the second stage, 3 different surveys were conducted regarding the expectations and demands of disabled individuals living in Kocaeli province, which constitutes the sample of the project, and their views on services for disabled people. In the third stage, the “Barrier-Free City Council” was organized, bringing together all effective institutions and stakeholders in the province regarding the barrier-free city issue, where past experiences, current situation, future plans and good practice examples were discussed. What can be done about disabled people was discussed at the Council, which was held with 1200 participants representing 105 institutions. In the final stage of the project, 278 participants, including policy makers, practitioners and academics, were brought together at the Barrier-Free City Workshop to draw the framework of the studies for maturing the “Barrier-Free City Kocaeli Model” and preparing the “Kocaeli Sustainable Barrier-Free City Action Plan”.
The data obtained at different stages of the project were recorded and converted into results and action reports in order to contribute to meeting the data needs of the “Sustainable Barrier-Free City Action Plan” being prepared. It was planned that these reports would be compiled into a book by a group of academics and brought into academic life.
The project aimed to facilitate the lives of disabled individuals, who are important vulnerable groups in society. Solution suggestions that are of great importance for the design of cities that are equally livable for everyone have been revealed, and thus, a significant contribution has been made to reducing inequalities between individuals in society and creating barrier-free sustainable cities and communities.