Accessible city
A safe, accessible, open and inclusive city is the goal we are striving for.
In 2010 we established the Consultative Team on Accessibility of Urban Infrastructure for Persons with Disabilities. It is tasked with conducting audits for municipal investment projects, analysing designs and recommending solutions for increased accessibility.
Simultaneously, we are adopting the Detailed Accessibility Standards for the Design of Building Space in Kraków. The document aims to define the technical, functional and organisational framework to be applied in order to create high quality public spaces based on the notion of universal design. In combination with a document outlining the standards for inclusive customer service at the City Hall, that is currently in preparation, the above-mentioned measures are going to establish a sturdy scheme prioritizing accessibility.
District Action Programme for Persons with Disabilities
Kraków’s disability policies are comprehensive and well-planned. Our budget ensures funding of accessibility-focused projects whose ongoing monitoring guarantees a positive impact. The annual schedules of activities of the District Action Programme for Persons with Disabilities support rational allocation of funds. Our projects include:
- Hula Hop – a club for parents of special needs children aged 0 to 3.It is the first club of its kind in Kraków.
- Integration Centre for parents with children over 6 with special developmental needs offers workshops, trainings and consultations; its beneficiaries include children with disabilities such as autism, Asperger's Syndrome, mild intellectual disability and aphasia;
- Many cultural institutions (museums, libraries, etc.) run by Kraków offer inclusive activities for people with special needs (including intellectual disabilities). A website called Krakow for > All gathers information on such activities;
- In 2022 a centre for people on the autism spectrum was opened. Poland’s very first facility of this kind, it provides care to autistic adults whose parents are unable to assume it due to age and ill health;
- In 2019 Kraków launched winter holiday camps and summer half-day camps for children with disabilities including intellectual disorders
Barrier-free Kraków
For over a decade, the Barrier-free Kraków competition has been organised. It helps to promote good practices and architectural solutions, as well as initiatives and attitudes that enable people with disabilities to participate in the life of the city and make fuller use of the offer of various institutions and companies. Autumn 2022 will see the launch of public consultations and an in-depth analysis of the current standing of groups at risk of exclusion. These will be held in preparation for the Krakow for Equality programme. The programme is planned to focus, in particular, on anti-discrimination measures introduced throughout the city.
Accessibility to information and communication
Kraków established the Municipal Social Information Centre, which offers counselling and provides information on benefits and municipal projects to Krakovians, especially the elderly and people with disabilities. In addition, a Handbook for people with disabilities is published on a regular basis.
A total of 310 procedure manuals for services provided by the City Hall and municipal entities have been translated into Polish Sign Language. In implementing various municipal policies, the Kraków City Hall ensures accessibility of its own facilities, as well as those administered by third-party entities.