Today, during Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the issue of inclusiveness of Ukrainian cities is, as we say in Ukraine, ‘on the agenda’. The war has not only left physical scars in cities, but has also led to significant changes in the social landscape. Since the beginning of the invasion, there have been noticeable changes in society’s attitude to inclusiveness, driven by various factors, from public opinion to urban planning initiatives.

Until 24 February 2022, the concept of inclusiveness in Ukrainian cities was often underestimated, although even before the full-scale invasion, there were 30-50% of people with reduced mobility in Ukraine. Who are these people? Parents with a stroller, pregnant women, people over 60, children under 3, injured people, travellers, children with special needs, wounded soldiers, people with poor eyesight, people with poor hearing, people in wheelchairs. 

Why do we need inclusive cities?

All these people we see every day on the streets of our own cities should feel comfortable in their cities, and most importantly, be able to meet their needs on their own: leave home and walk the streets, take public transport to the hospital, go to their favourite coffee shop, and be able to get a job. Inclusiveness is about making the city’s architecture accessible and barrier-free for every resident, in order to ensure that everyone has a full and decent life. 

What is barrier-free?

Barrier-free is about the absence of stairs and kerbs, the absence of underground and overhead crossings as the only alternative, adequate ramps, low-floor public transport or at least transport with low-floor sections, inclusive toilets, tactile directional signs (embossed yellow ribbons) and Braille signs. It is about information signs and everything necessary at a height accessible to a person in a wheelchair, it is about elevators and lifts, it is about sound in various institutions, it is about a ‘working’ staff call button and much more, and in times of war, it is also about accessible bomb shelters with inclusive entrances, bathrooms and Braille.

A shift in public opinion

The war started by Russia has resulted in an increasing number of civilians and soldiers using prostheses or wheelchairs in Ukraine, but are Ukrainian cities ready to accept such people? A 27-year-old war veteran who had both his legs amputated as a result of being wounded at the front is trying to answer this question. Today, he is filming an entertainment and social YouTube show called ‘Leg dump or All Inclusive’, where he and popular Ukrainian stars check big cities for accessibility and promote the topic of barrier-free infrastructure among the public. This show changes viewers’ minds about the need for accessibility even in historical places, and forces the authorities to respond to such public “inspections”. For example, the episode about the inspection of the historic city of Lviv received many comments from people who were previously against grinding historic cobblestones that are impossible to use in a wheelchair, and who have now changed their minds. For example, in Vinnytsia, following comments made in one of the issues about the lack of low-floor trams on weekends, inclusive trams were launched on weekends.

Rebuilding or restructuring cities destroyed by Russia             

Thanks to international partners, the cities destroyed by the Russian army are not only being rebuilt, but also rebuilt in a way that makes them accessible. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, urbanism, a branch of architecture responsible for urban planning, has been gaining momentum. Ukrainian civil society organisations, with the support of international partners, conduct many urban planning programmes to engage society in urban planning and provide grants to the authors of the best ideas for their implementation. According to activists in this field, “the main idea of building urban space is that urban space will be convenient for everyone if it is convenient for the most vulnerable groups and people with limited mobility. After all, cities are created for people, not people for cities.”

Education

In large frontline cities such as Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, large inclusive underground schools for 400-1000 children are being opened to provide normal in-person education for schoolchildren. In Zaporizhzhia alone, 50 such schools are planned to be opened.

Media campaigns

Last spring, the NGO Dostupno.UA, which has been working on the issue of inclusive cities for several years, launched an information campaign ‘Let’s rebuild a country accessible to everyone’ to raise the issue of not just rebuilding, but inclusive urban development. The authors of the campaign noted that they wanted to convey relevant and clear information about the accessibility of infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings to people who will rebuild and participate in the development of Ukraine after the war. As part of the campaign, the activists created posters that could be seen on Ukrainian trains and on Kyiv banners. They have also engaged the famous Ukrainian rapper alyona alyona in their campaign.

“I really want Ukraine to be a country where a ramp is not put in place because it is necessary and for show, whether it is suitable for use or not, but where, when building a new building and planning a lift, it will be on a floor where a person in a wheelchair can simply reach it without going up 300,500 steps to that lift. There are many such nuances that I would like to take into account so that people who cannot move around like everyone else can feel like everyone else. And I would like to appeal to the authorities in this case, because we pay taxes and it probably depends on them: it depends on the local authorities, on the state authorities, in which direction society will develop, and in particular infrastructure and accessibility of any space for people,’ said alyona alyona.                                  

So, inclusiveness is not just an architectural or engineering problem, it is an indicator of the maturity and humanity of society. The war, which has destroyed infrastructure and caused changes in the social landscape, requires us to adopt new approaches to urban planning. Not even after the end of the war, but already now, we are faced with the task of rebuilding Ukraine. Thanks to the efforts of civil society organisations such as Dostupno.UA and others, as well as the support of international partners, we have a chance not just to rebuild, but to rebuild our cities, making them accessible to all. The quality of life of millions of people will depend on how inclusive this reconstruction is. We need to create cities where every resident, regardless of their physical abilities, can feel comfortable and have access to all the necessary services. By creating barrier-free environments, we are making our cities convenient for everyone, building a future where everyone will have the opportunity to live a full life. This is a task for all of us, and together we can make Ukraine truly accessible and comfortable for everyone.